FATORDA: Chennaiyin FC were crowned champions of the second edition of Indian Super League season after a gritty and impressive come from behind 3-2 victory over FC Goa at the Nehru Stadium, here.
Bruno Pelissari opened the scoring after tapping into an empty net after his penalty was saved.
FC Goa came straight back through Thongkhosiem Haokip who tapped past Edel Bete.
Another penalty minutes later by Mendoza was saved by Edel Bete. Joffre scored a superb free kick towards the end of the match which looked like it would be the winner. But Chennaiyin had other ideas as Mendoza struck late twice to end the contest in their favour. For the second year running, the third placed team in the ISL table has clinched the trophy.
The first good chance of the match came in the 31st minute after a good long ball by Romeo sent a charging Rafael clear. He touched the ball past the goalkeeper but wasn’t able to apply the finishing touches before a defender managed to clear the ball to safety.
Goa were starting to pile on the pressure but couldn’t get the evasive final touch. A lapse in concentration almost caught Goa out in the 38th minute. A shimmy from Mendoza and a give and go with Jeje almost saw the Colombian through. His left footed shot was consequently blocked by Kattimani, much to the relief of the bellowing stadium.
The half ended as it started with neither team being able to break the deadlock.
Goa, playing in front of their home fans, however, were clearly the better side at the half way point. The second half started with FC Goa replacing star man Leo Moura with Thongkhosiem Haokip.
A careless tackle by Pronay Halder on Mendoza in the box saw Chennaiyin being awarded a penalty. Bruno Pelissari stepped up and hit it toward the right post. Kattimani guessed right and stopped the spot kick but parried it straight back to Pelissari, who tucked into an empty net for Chennai to take the lead. The stadium was stunned into silence.
Goa looked to up the ante after going behind amid vociferous chants of “Goa, Goa” as the crowd attempted to egg their team on. That seemed to work wonders as Goa equalised almost immediately. Romeo Fernandes darted forward and put in a low ball across the box. Haokip got on the end of it and toe poked it past the hapless Edel Bete to square the tie once again.
Goa though, were pegged back yet again, this time after Kattimani brought Mendoza down in the box. Chennaiyin were awarded another penalty as the keeper saw yellow. Mendoza stepped up this time and put the spot kick to the right. Kattimani once again guessed right and parried the shot out for a corner to send the stadium into delirium. The loud shouts of “Goa, Goa” returned once more as the crowd once again tried to motivate their team into scoring another goal.
It almost worked one more time. A Joffre corner was headed back across the box and into the path of an unmarked Gregory who attempted an overhead kick but sent the ball wide. Materazzi finally had enough and threw on his marquee player Elano in a bid to get a winner. Pelissari was the man withdrawn. Jayesh Rane, who starred in Chennai’s win over Goa earlier in the season was also brought on for Jeje.
Goa had a golden chance to go ahead in the
76th minute after Rafael presented Haokip with a chance after a good low cross. The striker’s effort however, was straight at the goalkeeper, who made a comfortable save.
Kattimani was called up to make a save once again in the 84th minute after a good left footed effort from Mendoza. The Goan goalkeeper was up to the task and managed to parry it. Mendoza collected the parried ball and fed Elano whose left footed curled attempt went wide of the post.
A Manuele Blasi hand ball just outside the box in the 87th minute presented Goa with another chance to go ahead. Joffre and Lucca stood over the ball. It was the Spaniard who took the free kick and much to the delight of the 18,477 fans in the stadium, he beat the Armenian keeper. The chants from the crowd were deafening. Goa then decided to park the bus with all 11 men in their own half trying to defend.
That tactic didn’t quite play out as Chennai hit straight back. A long ball forward took the head of Mendoza with Kattimani punching the ball into his own net.
Things went from bad to worse for Goa as not even a minute later, some suicidal defending caught out the defence and Mendoza slotted home from a one-on-one position. The crowd was left stunned as Chennai managed a late turnaround. They managed to hold on for a very memorable win to the dismay of all the fans in the stadium.
