MATCH REPORT: Defence errors, lacklustre play from Mumbai gifts Chennai an easy win
MUMBAI CITY'S FIRST home game turned out to be a a nightmare for them as defensive errors saw them break composure towards the middle of the second half and concede two back to back goals. Chennaiyin FC were happy to defend their 2-0 lead for the rest of the game and earn a relatively easy away win; their second on the trot.
Nicolas Anelka went all guns blazing into his first home game, making six changes to the side that held Kerala Blasters to a 0-0 draw. He fielded three Sunil Chhetri and Subrata Paul, now back from national duty. Ashutosh Mehta, Lalchhuanmawia, Selim Benachour and Frederic Piquionne all made it back into the starting XI making it the strongest Mumbai City squad to make a start this season.
Chennaiyin FC had only one change from the previous game, an emphatic 0-4 away victory over FC Goa. Materazzi benched Bernard Mendy in favour of Alessandro Potenza.
Like the last game, Mendoza was a threatening presence from the get go. In the sixth minute he forced a difficult save out of Subrata Paul who had to dive full-tilt to his right to deflect the ball away for a corner.
This was followed by a period of Mumbai City being on the offensive, helmed by Sony Norde on the left flank. Marking him like a shadow was Mehrajuddin Wadoo, and the two were in constant tussle throughout the half. Sony tried his best to put a dangerous cross into the Chennaiyin box early on but got flagged offside. Soon afterwards he took a free kick but it did not find its mark and was easily cleared.
Chennaiyin were trying to get back through some counters. One of Elano's passes saw Thoi get past the Mumbai City defenders, but he failed to keep the shot on target. Minutes later, Raphael Augusto had a crack at the goal, which Subroto managed to deflect. It hit the post.
As the half neared its end there were a few moments of intensity from Sony Norde. Once he had almost cleared the Chennaiyin defence, but Wadoo managed to diffuse the attack. Next minute Sony had the best chance to score yet, but his well-aimed shot was just about palmed over the bar by Chennaiyin keeper Edel.
Throughout the half, Mumbai City enjoyed most of the possession, but Chennaiyin were by far the more attacking team with 9 shots compared to Mumbai's 4.
Part of it was due to Sunil Chhetri being quite unimpressive on his Mumbai City defence. His pace was often lacking and his touches were generally sub-par. And it continued to be so in the second half as things fell apart for Mumbai City towards the middle of it.
The half started all right for the home team as Mehta, Benachour and Norde tried to put together a few dangerous attacks but they always fell short of fruition.
But tragedy struck through an inane defensive error by Pratesh Shirodhkar whose poor handling of the ball saw it end up with Elano who passed it to Mendoza who easily put it past a helpless Subrata. Five minutes later Mendoza scored again through another easy chance that came to him on a platter: Jayesh Rane's shot hit the crossbar and came to the Colombian on the rebound, and he had only a fallen-over Subrata to beat.
Suddenly Stiven Mendoza was the highest scorer of the tournament, and Mumbai City were 0-2 down.
After this Chennaiyin FC immediately fortified their defence and saw out the remaining 24 minutes plus change, content to sit on their lead and collect their three points. Mumbai City repeatedly made raids. Sony Norde played his heart out trying to find a way past the seven white shirts that blocked his way time and again. But nothing came off it. For the last 10 minutes it looked like Mumbai City players had given up and accepted the result. Proceedings came to a comfortable close for the visitors, whose second win on the trot took them up to the third place on the points table.
More than the result, it is the attitude of the players that will put Anelka in deep concern. They looked like they lacked a leader on the pitch and easily submitted to their fate after going down by two goals. Sony Norde's runs, sometimes assisted by Pavel Cmovs and Lalchhuan Mawia, looked isolated and hapless, the fighting spirit lost on his teammates.
Barring that individual mistake that led to the first goal, Mumbai City's defence was not that bad tonight. It was at the midfield that they lost the game. And their right flank was nearly dead. Anelka will have to come up with a different attack altogether if they are to have any chance this year.
As for Chennaiyin FC, they were not tested that well today. Their win margin could have been much higher had Subrata not pulled off some very difficult saves. But Materazzi has always been happy with playing percentage football. And after the shaky start to the season, he will be more than happy with the back to back away wins his team has earned. Their next outing is against NorthEast United at Guwahati on Tuesday, where a win will take them up to the second position in the table; an impressive climb within one round of games.
