I-League: Rampaging Chennai City take on Neroca at home (Preview)

Table toppers Chennai City FC will look to keep their winning momentum going when they face Manipur-based side Neroca FC in an I-League encounter at the Nehru stadium here on Saturday.

Home team Chennai, coached by Singaporean Akbar Nawas, has been the most impressive side of the league by far, winning four out of their five games and remaining unbeaten.

They have impressed not only with results but also with their style of play with their awesome Spanish quartet of Pedro Manzi, Nestor Jesus, Sandro Rodriguez and Roberto Eslava, forming the bulwark around which Akbar has built his side.

The contribution of the Spaniards is evident from the fact that striker Pedro and midfielders Nestor and Sandro account for nine of the 13 goals scored by Chennai in the league, which is an astounding five goals ahead of second-best Gokulam FC.

Coach Akbar will, however, be wary of the fact that his side has not made it to the clean sheet list so far and had it not been for Eslava's performance at the back, they could have conceded more than seven, among the top three conceders, that they have till now.

Akbar was as level-headed as ever in pre-match comments saying: "We should not rest on our laurels by thinking about the run or looking at the table. We should keep our feet firmly on the ground and focus to compete against Neroca on Saturday which will be a tough game."

Neroca's Spanish coach Manuel Fraile, on the other hand, will be happy to find his side in the position they find themselves in after four games. It could have been far worse than the five points and sixth position, given they have scored only three goals yet.

Two of those goals came in the last game against Real Kashmir up in Srinagar, a game which they did well to win given the conditions.

Their striker Nigerian Felix Chidi, also opened his account in the same game with a couple of strikes which should also warm coach Fraile's heart.

He reflected the confidence after that win while sharing his thoughts on match-day eve saying: "After the win against Real Kashmir, we are more confident and given the conditions, it's ideal time to face the table-toppers - we are ready for that."

"Indian players need to step up as well as the foreigners. It's a test for everyone including me and we believe we can overcome if we play to our potential. Manzi, Nestor and Sandro have been extremely good for them so far and they are ruthless. Defenders have a tough job tomorrow but we also have our plan in place. Now we just need to keep our head down and execute," he added.

--IANS

tri/sed