GERMANPREET, MIRLAN STAR IN CHENNAIYIN WIN
VASCO: Chennaiyin FC returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Odisha FC in the Indian Super League 2021-22 at the Tilak Maidan here on Saturday.
Chennaiyin had gone down 0-1 to table-topper Mumbai City FC in its previous fixture on Wednesday. On Saturday, CFC midfielder Germanpreet Singh (23’) opened the scoring with his first-ever goal in the ISL. Kyrgyz Republic forward Mirlan Murzaev (63’) made it 2-0 in the second half with a brilliant strike from distance as the Bozidar Bandovic-coached side moved to 11 points from six matches.
Odisha succumbed to its second straight defeat and now has nine points from six games. Spanish midfielder Javi Hernandez (90+5’) scored a superb goal in stoppage time, but it wasn’t enough in the end. Both teams looked to suss each other out in the opening exchanges before Chennaiyin nosed ahead by riding on an unlikely source.
Germanpreet struck in the 23rd minute when he smashed home a rebound, after Odisha goalkeeper Kamaljit Singh blocked a cross from the right flank. It was the first goal for the 25-year-old since 2015 when he had scored for Dempo against Royal Wahingdoh. Despite being 0-1 down, Odisha continued to give Chennaiyin a tough time but failed to find the back of the net. It was end-to-end stuff from the start of the second period. Lallianzuala Chhangte got a golden opportunity to double CFC’s lead when he was one-on-one with Kamaljit, but the latter narrowed the angle and smothered the former’s effort.
OFC striker Aridai Cabrera fired a ferocious long-ranger, which cannoned off the post and went out for a goal-kick. The Spanish forward came close again, but his attempt flew over the bar. At the other end of the pitch, Chennaiyin doubled its cushion courtesy of a scintillating solo effort from Mirlan.
The 31-year-old Kyrgyzstan player was left unmarked and made the most of it with a long-range shot that arrowed past a diving Kamaljit. It could have been 3-0 for Chennaiyin after Vladimir Koman was hacked down inside the box, but Lukasz Gikiewicz saw his penalty effort saved by Kamaljit. Javi scored a stunner for OFC in added time but it was too little too late as CFC bagged the all-important three points.
Result: Chennaiyin FC 2 (Germanpreet 23, Mirlan 63) bt Odisha FC 1 (Javi 90+5)