Wednesday, 5 November 2014

Day 24, Match 21. 20 Players, EQUALITY!!


Courtesy:ISL
Jawaharlal Stadium, Chennai, became the battle ground for top scorers of the League, Chennaiyin FC and Atletico de Kolkata. Kolkata has been reigning in the League since the beginning and Chennai has Elano Blumer, ISL's high scorer so far. The excitement for the kick off was beyond explanation as the entire country wanted to see the clash of these Titans. The match had anomalous turns and twists. This has been the most exhilarating draw of the league so far.

Chennaiyin FC (1) - Atletico de Kolkata (1)

Courtesy:ISL
Frenchman Jean-Eudes Maurice made his debut as a Valencia's partner for Chennaiyin FC. With Fikru and Habas serving their term of punishment, Antonia Lopez had added responsibility to drive the team forward. A few set pieces for both the teams in the inceptive time of the game. The real fun began post 9 minutes of the beginning. The game was really fast as the teams now settled on the turf. Rafi was pushed by Silvester and he went flying off the field. Mendoza's pass was intercepted by Kolkata. The guests were more defensive in the play and couldn't choreograph counter attacks as a number of players were usually seen near their penalty area. Jofre tried to stop Elano by virtue of which both the players were down on the field. Jofre was booked and Blumer got a free kick just 27.60 m away from the goal post which didn't turn out to be as expected.

Courtesy:ISL
32 minutes on the clock, Shilton came charging towards Rafi and brought the striker down on the ground. The Chennaiyin Keeper was immediately shown a red that completely changed the home team's strategy who were previously daunting. Materazzi had to to replace his keeper with a forward in a situation where it was fundamental to score. Garcia, as a result of the event, scored his first ISL goal by taking the penalty from his left foot. Mendoza went from centre half to right wing, Mendy cut past 4 defenders and Elano attempted a curling free kick, but the home team couldn't find an equalizer before the half time.

Courtesy:ISL
With the start of the second half  Jofre got booked for diving, merging a second yellow with the first one to make it a red. Both the teams now had 10 players each. Equality again! Chennai played a defensive game when the scoreboard was calling for attacks. Garcia took a long shot and missed when Rafi was standing right in front of the goal post. The captain made the same mistake with his two touch play, trying to score on his own. Bernard Mendy was driving the team, always ready for danger. Elano waste yet another free kick. Both the teams looked exhausted with reduced number of players and had 50% ball possession. Equality yet again! With Rafi's replacement for Pradhan, Kolkata changed its strategy. They started to play slow and defensive to save energy and to keep the home team from scoring. Khabra went for glory instead of pass. Mendy did a precise tackle on Sahni and saved the team. Materazzi left for Jeje. Balwant substituted Denson and made an impact fairly quickly.

Courtesy:ISL
Kingshuk brought Valencia down during the injury time, giving away a penalty to Chennai. Elano converted the penalty into a goal establishing final Equality. 'Hero of the Match' was Luis Garcia.

As much as we were amused by Kolkata in the beginning of the league, we have started to question its credibility. The have the lowest pass percentage and maximum numbers of fouls. They lack sportsmanship as they are often involved in illegitimate tackles. Their manager is always animated, shouting on the referee. Kolkata now needs to work on to have a better standing in their fans' hearts.

Courtesy:ISL
Our Player of the Match is the Frenchman, Bernard Mendy. His pace and moves swept our hearts away. He was always on the move and created many opportunities for the team.                                                                                    


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