ISL 2016 | Kolkata and Chennaiyin share spoils in see-saw match
In the match-up between the two past ISL champions, Atletico Kolkata fought back to draw 2-2 against Chennaiyin at Kolkata today. Atletico were the better side for most parts of play, but defending champions Chennai managed to sneak 2 goals in 4 minutes before Atletico drew par in the 86th minute.
Defending champions Chennaiyin FC played their first match today against Atletico de Kolkata at the Rabindra Sarovar Stadium with the Salt Lake stadium being prepared for the U-17 World Cup. Chennaiyin looked much less imposing with the departure of both their stars,
Chennaiyin FC XI: Dwayne Kerr, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Bernard Mendy, John Arne Riise, Nallapan Mohanraj, Hans Mulder, Raphael Augusto, Jayesh Rane, Baljit Sahni, Jeje Lalpekhlua, and Davide Succi.
Atletico de
Kolkata dominate but fail to go ahead
Atletico began the match on the ascendancy as they tested the Chennaiyin defence in the second minute. However, Sameehg Doutie took an attempt, instead of passing it on to an unmarked Iain Hume, only to see it sail well above the
Soon, Chennaiyin received a chance of their own. After Baljit Sahni was brought down, John Arne Riise stepped up to take the free-kick from a dangerous spot, but his shot found the underside of the Kolkata crossbar and bounced off.
In the 22nd minute,
Chennaiyin's Nallapan Mohanraj, who started in place of the reliable Dhanachandra Singh, was having a torrid time since the beginning as
Atletico again had an opportunity when Postiga found
Kolkata breakthrough
Kolkata began the second half immediately with a bang – Helder Postiga stole the ball from Chennaiyin skipper Mendy and raced forward to pass to Lara, but Riise was back in time to clear the ball. Kolkata squandered the resultant corner before the hosts wasted another corner in the 10th minute of the half.
But the home side, finally, found the deserved breakthrough, and it was Helder Postiga who was the architect. The
The period also saw a flurry of yellow cards for Chennai, who were struggling defensively- John Arne Riise, Jayesh Rane, and Bikramjit were the culprits.
Chennaiyin surge ahead
However, Jayesh Rane more than made up for it soon. Chennaiyin, who had been the lesser of the two teams until then, suddenly attacked with more intent and were rewarded soon. In the 66th minute, Jeje received the ball 25 yards from the
In four minutes, Chennaiyin made it 2-0 when Hans Mulder's shot at goal found a deflection off Tiri and changed direction to the left side of the goal just past the outstretched hands of Debjit. Absolutely unlucky, but Chennaiyin were up 1-2.
Kolkata pull back
Four minutes later, Kolkata almost drew par when Hume, left unmarked on the left, took a shot but his kick to the far post missed the goal by a few inches. Kolkata
Kolkata finally managed the
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