Chennaiyins hunt down the Lions at home; win 4-0, make it into the top 4

A GOAL AND AN ASSIST from golden boot frontrunner Stiven Mendoza and a brilliant brace from Jeje Lalpekhlua saw Chennaiyin FC hunt down Delhi Dynamos at home by a massive 4-0 margin, and go up to the 4th place on the ISL points table.

Materazzi mostly kept faith in the team that played Kerala Blasters on Saturday, making only one change: Mailson Alves came in to replace Alessandro Potenza. Delhi Dynamos, who were coming off an encouraging win over Pune City himself, went in with an unchanged squad from that game.

The match began with a couple of uneasy moments for the visitors. Doungel gave the ball away easily, then Mendy made an early threatening run. Leading golden boot candidate Stiven Mendoza showed his teeth early and got fouled by Doungel.

Soon the home team was looking way more comfortable on the ball. They were passing around with ease and maneuvred the midfield with swiftness. Chances started coming their way.

Delhi had a good opportunity great through ball from Adil Nabi reached Malouda who let fly but missed the target. It could have been the early breakthrough the Dynamos were looking for; and missing out on it came back to cost them dearly.

Because minutes later, Chennaiyin FC were ahead. It was the hat-trick hero from the previous game striking again with impunity. Jeje sent the ball into the Delhi box, keeper Doblas tried to clear it but the ball reached Mendoza who put a quick finisher on it. The Colombian striker celebrated excessively and got booked, but it was all good. Mendoza had taken his season's goal tally to 10, and Chennaiyin had found a strong wind on their sail.

Delhi replied with a counter but Edel made a diving save from a Chicao strike. It went out for a corner, but the visitors couldn't make much of it.

And suddenly, Chennai struck again. Mendoza fed Jeje who took the shot, but Doblas blocked it. The ball reached Bruno Pelissari, who was standing just outside the box. He had at three Delhi defenders in front of him, and a narrow diagonal pathway to the goal. He took the shot on first touch, sending the ball like a bullet through that opening, and left all defenders and the keeper stunned as the ball found the net. 2-0.

Chennaiyin kept fishing for more. A pass from Jeje to Raphael saw the Brazilian medio shoot above the bar. 

Delhi came back with a Malouda pass to Robin Singh who took the shot but Edel managed to slap it away for a corner. 

Robin Singh got up to his wn antics, pushing Thoi Singh to the ground in what should have been a yellow card offense; but the referee did not reach for his card. Soon afterwards, he fell inside the Chennai box and waved for a penalty, but the referee wasn't moved. 

And then came the third goal for Chennai. It was a beautiful run by Mendoza into the box, and then he crossed the ball to an onrushing Jeje. The finish was quick and precise, leaving John Arne Riise inches short of getting an interception, and throwing his hands up in despair as the ball went in. The defender's reaction perfectly summed up the half for Delhi Dynamos. 

Roberto Carlos tried substituted Adil Nabi with Richard Gadze at the end of the first half, and began the second period with Hans Mulder instead of Vinicius. But chasing down this monumental lead was never going to be easy and at the start of the second half it looked like they were going nowhere. Delhi players were finding it hard to contain opponent players and ending up using some shady tactics; Zodingliana straight up elbowed Mendoza on one occasion, but luckily for him the referee did not notice.

But Chennaiyin were still dominating. A shot by Mendoza almost went in, but Anas Edathodika managed to clear it. But the ball went straight to Jeje Lalpekhlua who sent it in with ease. Jeje got his second goal of the night, and Chennaiyin FC were 4-0 up with more than half an hour to spare.

Materazzi decided to rest Mendoza at this point, sending in Elano in his stead. The lethal sharpness seemed to go out of the Chennaiyin attack thereafter, but they were doing well enough to keep out the visitors and protect their comfortable lead.

Harmanjot Khabra picked up a yellow for a fowl on Gadze; his fourth of the season, meaning he will miss the next game. Then Hans Mulder joined him in the referee's book when he brought down Jeje, referee called it a foul, to which he disagreed and yelled at the ref. 

Roberto Carlos decided to substitute Florent Malouda with Gustavo Marmentini. Then Materazzi decided to do something impressive; he substituted Rapahel Augusto and Bruno Pelissari with Godwin Franco and Balwant Singh, choosing to play the last 15-odd minutes of regulation time with 7 Indian players on the pitch.

Elano was involved in a couple of moves. One got cleared by Anas Edathodika, the other reached Jeje whose shot got blocked by John Arne Riise. Similar moves kept happening for a while as the home team kept the ball with ease and the visitors, already resigned to their fate, seemed to let things be and play out the remainder of the minutes. Chennaiyin FC won the match 4-0.

Materazzi's boys, with their second win on the trot, have emphatically made a comeback from the bottom of the table and now they have entered the top 4. From 12 matches they now have 16 points, and the way they are playing makes a top 4 finish very much possible. They next play Mumbai City, themselves desperately seeking a comeback similar to what Chennai have pulled off, at home on Tuesday before playing their final regular season match away at Pune. Pune City, who are now down to 6th at the table, are one of Chennai's major rivals in the race to the semi-finals and that match on 5th December may become a do or die encounter. Materazzi can take a lot of confidence from tonight's game but he will have to start preparing for the Mumbai game this instant in order to make sure they are at the best possible position before they head to Balewadi.

For Delhi Dynamos, they are on 18 points from 11 games, sitting somewhat comfortably at the 3rd place on the table. But the way their defenders failed to measure up to the pace and passing discipline of the Chennaiyin FC attackers will have Roberto Carlos genuinely worried. This is the first time Delhi have lost by more than 2 goals this season, that too to a team that was at the bottom of the table just 3 days ago. The Dynamos now face a trip to Guwahati, followed by two matches at home against Kerala and Goa; so there is nothing to be overly worried about for Carlos. It's just time to be cautious. A negative result against NorthEast United on Saturday will put them in a world of pressure.