Chennai: Defending Champions Chennaiyin FC’s winless streak continued in the fifth season of the Indian Super League season as they slumped to a fifth loss in six games against Mumbai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru
Stadium here on Saturday.
Mumbai City FC registered a 1-0 win to go up to fifth place in the points table while Chennaiyin FC continues to be in the bottom of the table, with just a solitary point.
Against Mumbai, CFC manager John Gregory fielded an unchanged XI, which meant that Jeje Lalpekhlua once again had to sit on the bench. Chennaiyin FC started off well and dominated the possession. They even had many chances but struggled to slot in a goal.
It took 20 minutes for Mumbai to take the lead when Senegal’s Modou Sougou managed to slot in a goal. Rafael Bastos earned possession and found Sougou near the Chennaiyin box. Sougou had a shot at the goal but it was stopped by Chennaiyin goalkeeper Karanjit Singh and on rebound, the Mumbai striker got to the ball once again and scored in the second attempt into the right corner.
Chennaiyin, however, continued to dominate the proceedings and in the 26th minute Andrea Orlandi had a shot at the goal from outside the box but the ball went wide. He had a chance once again in the 41st minute and this time he managed to win possession and went into the box only to be pinned down by a Mumbai defender. He went down in appeal for a penalty that was turned down by the referee.
In the second half, Chennaiyin once again dominated but failed to get past the Mumbai defenders. Their goalkeeper Amrinder Singh also made it hard for the Chennaiyin riders with some beautiful saves.
In the 62nd minute, Chennaiyin FC came close to scoring a goal when Raphael Augusto passed to Carlos Salom who was inside the box, from the left flank. Salom’s shot hit the post and came straight to Thoi Singh on rebound, who missed the opportunity to score as his shot was blocked by Amrinder.
Then John Gregory, in pursuit of goals, brought in Gregory Nelson, Jeje and Germanpreet Singh but it couldn’t make any difference as the Mumbai defence kept Chennaiyin at bay. In the end the home team suffered its third successive loss at home.