I-League: Manzi faces off with Willis Plaza as Chennai look to seal the title

Three points is all that Chennai City FC need to win their maiden I-League title when square off with Churchill Brothers in a tricky 19th round away encounter here Friday.

With their Spanish sniper Pedro Manzi, who has 19 goals with four hat-tricks, ready to hit the Goan giants hard, a tally of 43 points will take them clear of nearest rivals East Bengal, who can at best reach 42 points.

All Chennai City needs to ensure is two draws in two games and even if East Bengal win their next two, Akbar Nawas coached side will walk away with the coveted trophy on count of better head-to-head record.

In fact, it will be billed as a game between the two most prolific strikers of the league. Manzi's Trinidadian counterpart in the Churchill ranks, Willis Plaza, having netted 18 times for the 'Red Machines' will like to spoil the visitors' party.

The two will be in a dogfight to finish with the maximum goals under their belt with just a game more to play.

Churchill are placed fourth at the moment, with 31 points and a win on Friday could catapult them to the second position.

Churchill's Romanian coach Petra Gigiu said on match day eve: "I will be very happy if we finish on the podium.

There are quite a few players like Rowilson Rodrigues, keeper Vigneshwaran Baskaran, Nallappan Mohanraj, Richard Costa who will not be playing tomorrow's match. Hussain Eldor might join tomorrow's match. We are happy with our performance this season, compared to the last season."
Nawas seemed to more raring to go expressing in the pre-match media conference:"The most important thing for me and the team is to win tomorrow's match. We want to win every match and become the champion. We want to finish the league on a good note."
"The secret of our success is training. Churchill is one of those teams which is hard to play. Some of the teams are overly physical but Churchill is a good team with a good coach and mix of players. I think we have good Spanish and Indian players who get along well."