Half Time Report: Boring goalless half in Chennai as the Gaurs double down on defence
Starting Line-Ups:
Chennaiyin FC - Karanjit Singh, Dhanachandra Singh, Bernard Mendy, Alessandro Potenza, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Elano, Raphael Augusto, Thoi Singh, Stiven Mendoza, Fikru Teferra
FC Goa - Laxmikant Kattmani, Narayan Das, Gregory Arnolin, Lucio, Luciano Sabrosa, Raju Gaikwad, Jonatan Lucca, Leo Moura, Bikramjit Singh, Rafael Coehlo, Thongkhosiem Haokip
A RATHER BORING half saw the match between Chennaiyin FC and FC Goa remain goalless at the break as Zico's team doubled down on defence.
Materazzi made four changes to the Chennaiyin starting line-up, bringing Thoi Singh, Bernard Mendy, Harmanjot Khabra and Fikru Teferra back into squad to significantly boost the pace up front. Zico's FC Goa, meanwhile, went for a highly defensive 5-3-2 formation, bringing Laxmikant Kattimani back in the goal, Narayan Das and Raju Gaikwad in defence and midfield while Rafael Coelho got his debut for the franchise to be the 6th foreigner in the outfield, playing up front.
The match started on an exciting note as Mendoza got a shot on goal in the very first minute that Kattimani somehow managed to save. But as the match went on, things became less and less interesting. Goa had obviously come in with an express intention to disrupt Chennai's natural game as they kept the ball as much as possible to frustrate the opponents. Chennai were obviously the more attacking side, but their struggles bore no fruit.
The Goa defence was hard at work from the get go. Luciano picked up an early yellow for a professional foul on Mendoza. The Gaurs defenders looked happy to clear the ball at the earliest opportunity rather than take a risk and build a counter. The few times Goa put together an attack things ended in corners and free-kicks as the Chennai defenders were clear-happy as well.
Narayan Das had a good half, pulling off a couple of blocks in situations that could become mildly interesting, especially the Mendoza pass to Elano around the 35th minute that he cleared for a corner.
Elano took the corner, which he delivered to Mendoza. The joint leading goal scorer took the shot but missed the target by half a foot.
Towards the end of the first half, Mehrajuddin Wadoo broke free with the ball and made a run into the Goa box. But his shot was just a bit too high.
At the very end Fikru Teferra picked up his routine yellow card by bringing down Lucioano.
The first half ended goalless, in a rather boring affair that both coaches will perhaps be happy with. A draw, for Chennai, would be a point from a tough game and for Goa it would be a good result after the 4-0 drubbing they received at home in the first leg. Both teams's quest for a top four finish would remain unaffected. So we might see the coaches stay glad with this.
