Chennaiyin notches crucial win in quest of sixth spot

CHENNAI: Chennaiyin FC sent NorthEast United FC crashing out of the playoffs race with a 2-1 victory against the Highlanders at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Tuesday.

With both teams edging for the vacant sixth spot in the standings, the Juan Pedro Benali-coached side took a decisive step forward, thanks to the goal by the in-form Jithin MS. However, two late strikes by defenders Ankit Mukherjee and Aakash Sangwan helped the Marina Machans secure their third straight win.

Chennaiyin is peaking at the right time, and it now stands at 27 points from 21 matches in the competition. With 23 points from as many matches, NorthEast United FC cannot catch up to it even if it wins its only remaining fixture against Odisha FC. With 24 points and a match left to play, East Bengal FC is still in the tussle for the sixth spot with Chennaiyin.

Jithin has been one of the most in-form NorthEast United attackers in the last few games and he teed up with his teammate Parthib Gogoi admirably to draw the first blood after a listless opening half of the game. As the Highlanders pushed Chennaiyin behind with a quick offensive move, their forwards took positions accurately centred by the sprinting Jithin. Parthib is known to be lethal from distance but he curbed those instincts perhaps factoring in the greater interests of the team. His pass for Jithin was well weighted, and he did well to deposit it into the Chennaiyin net in the 49th minute.

Parthib’s awareness on this instance was perhaps a result of his two earlier failed attempts at hitting the target from outside of the box. In the 23rd minute, his shot missed hitting the net by a slight distance, with the ball flying over the crossbar. Sixteen minutes later, Redeem Tlang trusted Parthib on the edge of the box, laying off a pass for the youngster whose attempt at goal was blocked.

However, Chennaiyin recovered rhythm as the game entered its final 20-odd minutes. Its equaliser came arguably in the unlikeliest of ways, with Aakash Sangwan’s attempt from the corner somehow getting lobbed into the back of the net on the bottom left corner to help Chennaiyin restore parity.

The Marina Machans steadily increased the intensity thereafter, with their domestic forwards at the centre of it all. Rahim Ali and Irfan Yadwad kept winning fouls, trying hard to make something out of set-pieces. However, as the clock hit the 91st minute mark, Rahim spotted Mukherjee in a goal-scoring position on the right side of the box. The fullback collected the assist delicately, before putting the ball into the bottom left corner to secure three points for Chennaiyin.