AGENCIES, COIMBATORE: Chennai City FC host Churchill Brothers FC, in game nine of the 12th Hero I-League at Coimbatore’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday.
Chennai won their opening encounter at home against Indian Arrows 4-1 last week, in an impressive display, particularly by their Uruguayan marksman Pedro Manzi who registered the season’s first hat-trick. Churchill, on the other hand, drew their first game against defending champions Minerva Punjab FC 0-0 and will be playing their second straight away game on the trot.
The hosts go into the game leading 3-1 on the head to head count, while one game ended in a stalemate, among the five played between the sides in the Hero I-League.
Chennai’s new Singaporean coach Akbar Nawas could not have been happier with the result and will look to carry on with the winning momentum. Besides Manzi, his Spanish signings, in particular, winger Nestor Jesus also had a good first game and so did his other winger Romario Jesuraj and coach Nawas will hope they carry on with their good work. Kabir in goal will regret his effort in the lone goal that Arrows scored and will target a clean sheet this time around.
Giving insights into their approach to the game, Chennai midfielder and captain Regin Michael said on match eve, “Churchill is physically strong, their attacking approach is different from ours. We will try to stick to our game and steal all three points tomorrow. Pedro Manzi is a strong player in our team and I hope he continues to play strongly throughout the season.”
Meanwhile, Shillong Lajong set the 12th Hero I-League on fire in the true sense of the term with a fabulous display of free-flowing attacking football last Sunday, when they triumphed over fellow North-Easterners Aizawl FC 2-1 in their opening fixture.
The same Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium in Shillong will now play host to arguably a more formidable Quess East Bengal on Thursday, November 1, 2018. The game is scheduled to begin at 2 PM.
