Chennai City goes down to Sudeva Delhi

KOLKATA: Chennai City FC (CCFC) began its I-League Group B assignment with a 1-2 loss against Sudeva Delhi FC (SDFC) at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan here on Saturday.

Jockson Dhas opened the scoring for Chennai City in the sixth minute, but William Pauliankum netted the equaliser for Sudeva Delhi in the 34th. Sairuat Kima (45+2’) went on to score the match-winner in first half injury time, ending SDFC’s four-game winless run. Following the result, Chennai City, currently on a five-match losing streak and fighting for survival, has nine points from 11 fixtures. Sudeva Delhi has collected 12 points from the same number of games as its rival.

CCFC made a good start, taking the lead as early as the sixth minute. Serbian striker Demir Avdic won the ball from Kima in the area and cut his cross to Jockson, who placed it into the right bottom corner. After persistent pressure, SDFC found the deserved leveller in the 34th minute. William latched on to Naorem Mahesh’s through ball and powered his strike past the Chennai City goalkeeper. Sudeva Delhi finished the opening period on a high as it bagged its second goal. Centre-back Kima headed in Kean Lewis’s corner, making up for his earlier error which led to CCFC’s goal.

Chennai City pushed hard for the equaliser in the second half, but the opposition defence stood tall to help Sudeva Delhi seal the victory.