ISL 2018-19: Ultra-defensive Pune City suffer 2-4 loss against Chennaiyin
The win lifts Chennai to eighth position with four points from seven games while Pune go to the bottom of the table with two points from six games
 "FC Pune City, Chennaiyin FC")
FC Pune City vs Chennaiyin FC (Photo: indiansuperleague.com)
Full-time report: FC Pune City were made to pay for their ultra-defensive tactics when defending champions Chennaiyin FC came from behind to snatch a 4-2 win at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune.
An early goal by Ashique Kuruniyan got Pune going. The goal came almost out of nowhere as Chennai had been dictating the proccedings in the early minutes. But, Robin Singh put in a cross across the field from deep right and Ashique did well to control the ball at the far post and put his effort beyond the two sliding defenders and the goalkeeper to make it 1-0.
For the next 30 minutes, the game played on a fixed script of Chennai moving the ball around and Pune defending deep and trying to hit the visitors on the counter.
Chennai did manage to get through the Pune defence in the 43rd minute when, after some tussle at the corner flag, Fernandes received the ball on the left wing and drove into the box from where he pulled the trigger that the goalkeeper did well to push to safety.
Minutes later, Pune got a chance to double their lead when Marcelinho's free-kick found Mills unmarked at the far post with Chennai defenders asleep. He tried to find the near post but Karanjit made the save.
As expected, Pune continued with their defensive game in the second half but unlike the first half, it didn't take Chennai much time to break Pune's resilience. Chennai's first goal came in the 54th minute when a chipped ball from a free-kick by Anirudh Thapa found Mailson Alves in acres of space who headed it rather comfortably to make it 1-1.
The goal opened the floodgates and three minutes later, Chennai scored again. This time, a lobbed ball inside the box found Nelson who chipped it over the goalkeeper who failed to rush out of his line in time.
Chennai scored again, in the 69th minute, through a stunning Inigo Calderon effort when after a bit of scramble inside the box, Calderon got the ball at the far post where he was all alone and scored with an overhead kick.
Substitute Thoi Singh took benefit of the momentum and scored his side's fourth in the 72nd minute. The goal came after Augusto made a fine run down the right wing and put in a low cross for Jeje at the far post whose effort was saved by the goalkeeper who parried it into the path of onrushing Thoi Singh and he blasted his effort home to make it 1-4.
Pune did get another goal late in the game. In the 90th minute, to be precise. The goal came after Pune got a corner in the 90th minute and Villa's head met the inswinging ball at the near post to make the scoreline 2-4.
There was time for more action as, in the 94th minute, Marcelinho went on a dangerous two-footed challenge on Germanpreet that earned him a straight red. Germanpreet was stretched off by the medical team.
The win lifts Chennai to eighth position with four points from seven games while Pune go to the bottom of the table with two points from six games.
9:28 PM
Full-time. FC Pune City suffer 2-4 loss against Chennaiyin FC at home.
9:25 PM
Minute 94 (RED CARD!!) -- A terrible, dangerous two-footed challenge by Marcelinho earns him straight red and Germanpreet, the player at the receiving end, is taken out of the field by the medical team
9:20 PM
Minute 92 (SUBSTITUTION FOR CHENNAI) -- Jeje out, Rafi in
9:19 PM
Minute 90 -- Five minutes of additional time
9:19 PM
Minute 90 (GOAL!!) -- Pune score from a corner!! Villa, at the near post, gets at the end of an inswinging corner from the right corner and heads it into the net. Surely nothing more than a consolation goal?
9:15 PM
Minute 85 (SUBSTITUTION FOR CHENNAIYIN FC) -- Calderon out, Renthlei in
9:12 PM
Minute 84 -- Jeje tries from the left edge of the box but his effort is saved
9:09 PM
Minute 80 -- Chennai go close to scoring their fifth goal! Augusto pulls the trigger from quite some distance and the ball rattles the crossbar. So close!
9:06 PM
Minute 77 (SUBSTITUTION FOR PUNE CITY) -- Fanai out, Jakob in
9:05 PM
Pune, instead of trying to go for the kill when they were ahead, sat deep and tried to defend their tender lead and while the plan served them well in the first half, it has heavily backfired in the second half so far. Can they come back from this?
9:00 PM
Minute 69 (GOAL!!) -- Chennai score! What a stunnig effort by Inigo Calderon who, after a bit of scramble inside the box, gets the ball at the far post where he is all alone and scores with an overhead kick. Pune 1-Chennai 3
9:00 PM
Minute 67 (SUBSTITUTION FOR FC PUNE CITY) -- Alfaro in, Kuruniyan out
8:52 PM
Minute 62 -- A terrible miss for Pune! Marcelinho's cross into the box nearly finds Dia except that it's cleared by Mailson in time
8:47 PM
Minute 57 (SUBSTITUTION FOR PUNE) -- Robin out, Poojary in
8:46 PM
Minute 57 (GOAL!!) -- Chennai score again!! And it's Nelson this time. A lobbed ball inside the ball finds Nelson who chips it over the goalkeeper who failed to rush out of his line in time. 2-1 now in favour of Chennai
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First Published: Nov 06 2018 | 6:09 PM IST
