Chennayin FC maintained their position at the top of the Indian Super League (ISL) standings with a 3-0 thrashing of Mumbai City FC at the D.Y. Patil Stadium here Sunday.
Chennayin’s goals came from Bruno Pelissari (71st minute), Dhanachandra Singh (81st) and substitute Cristian Hidalgo (89th). With this win, the Chennai-based team widened a three-point lead over second-placed Atletico de Kolkata, who have one point more than third-placed Kerala Blasters FC.
The match also saw Mumbai City’s citadel finally breached after a run of five clean sheets in a row. The hosts have now slipped down to sixth place in the table, while Chennaiyin (19 points) extend their lead at the top of the table by three points over Atlético de Kolkata.
The first half turned out to be a cagey affair as both the teams failed to find that killer pass or moment of brilliance to make it count. Chennai did look like they missed the presence and creativity of Elano, and the pace and directness of John Mendoza. For the hosts, Nicolas Anelka’s absence seemed to take the bite out of their attack.
Not much happened in the match till after the 70th minute, when Mumbai’s defence finally succumbed to mounting pressure from Chennaiyin. Pavelmovš’ error proved costly for the hosts as Jeje Lalpekhlua pounced on the opportunity and played the ball across for Balwant Singh. The ball instead fell kindly for Pelissari who obliged with a well taken finish.
Chennai went two up when Dhanachandra made the most of a scrappy clearance from a corner and slotted the ball calmly into the bottom corner past the Mumbai defenders.
The final nail in the Mumbai coffin was hammered by substitute Hidalgo who scored with a brilliant free kick past Subrata Paul.
(IANS)