Half Time Report: Hapless Mumbai City dominated as it rains goals in Chennai
Starting Line-Ups:
Chennaiyin FC - Apoula Edel, Dhanachandra Singh, Bernanrd Mendy, Alessandro Potenza, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Zakeer Mundampara, Raphael Augusto, Thoi Singh, Bruno Pelissari, Stiven Mendoza, Jeje Lalpekhlua
Mumbai City FC - Subrata Paul, Lalchhuan Mawia, Darren O'Dea, Frantz Bertin, Rowilson Rodrigues, Juan Aguilera, Crisitan Bustos, Sony Norde, Ashutosh Mehta, Sunil Chhetri, Frederic Piquionne
A DEMORALISED Mumbai City squad looked helpless and directionless on the wet turf at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai as they were completely dominated by Chennaiyin FC who took a 3 goal lead over them in the first half thanks to strikes from Mendoza, Jeje and Mendy.
Chernnaiyin FC fielded most of the players who started during the 4-0 drubbing of Delhi Dynamos at home last Tuesday, with the exceptions of Mailson Alves and Harmanjot Singh Khabra (suspended) who were replaced by Alessandro Potenza (returning from suspension) and Zakeer Mundampara.
Mumbai City came into this do-or-die game with four changes: Darren O'Dea and Rowilson Rodrigues were back in the defence while Ashutosh Mehta took over the right wing, and Frederic Piquionne became the new target man positioning himself ahead of Sunil Chhetri.
From the very beginning it was obvious that the utterly rain-soaked conditions, which caused multiple patches of water-clogging on the pitch and a 15 minute delay in kick-off, was causing the visitors a lot of problems. They were struggling to navigate the pitch and judge the ball's movement on the wet pitch as play went on amidst heavy downpour.
The hosts took good advantage of their opponents' distress and began knocking on their defence's door early on. Long distance shots from Jeje Lalpekhlua and Stiven Mendoza went over the crossbar. But once they managed to got close a few times, the inevitable happened.
A through ball from Zakeer Mundampara reached Stiven Mendoza inside the box, who went past Frantz Bertin and fired away on target. Subrata fell short and the ball found the net. Chennaiyin were 1-0 ahead and Stiven Mendoza had taken his goal tally up to 11.
And soon they doubled the lead. Dhanachandra Singh sent in the cross that Thoi Singh got a touch on, sending it to Jeje Lalpekhlua who sent the ball in from close range with ease. It was 2-0 to the home side and any remainining shreds of top four hopes that Mumbai were still harbouring were already in tatters, barely 20 minutes into the first half.
The adverse conditions were taking their toll on the players. Chennai's Raphael Augusto had to be replaced after he pulled his hamstring. Manuele Blasi came on to replace him.
The grip of the match was firmly in the hands of Materazzi's boys as more chances to extend the lead came their way. Mendoza fed Thoi Singh who had a golden opportunity to slot it in and score a second but he sent it above the target. A Bruno Pelissari free-kick was punched away by Subrata, but Dhanachandra managed to get the ball back to Pelissari who took a crack at the goal but the wet turf slowed the ball down and Subrata caught it.
Lalchhuan Mawia was the first person to get booked for a foul on Thoi Singh. Joining him in the elite list soon was Rowilson Rodrigues for a tackle on Pelissari.
Subrata Paul made a great save to deny Mendoza in a one-on-one situation. Minutes later he denied the striker again when a botched clearance saw the golden boot front-runner in possession inside the box. But all his efforts went to waste when a Thoi Singh cross reached Bernard Mendy whose flick went into the net. The half ended with Chennaiyin FC leading 3-0, and the hapless Mumbai City players looking defeated already as they made their way to the dressing room, their tired boots splashing water on the wet turf. Anything less than a win tonight means they will become the second team to officially get knocked out of the semi-final race, and by the looks of it, the Mumbai players had accepted their fate long before they took to the pitch tonight.
