Jeje brace helps Chennaiyin FC enter final
position. But in the way skipper Henrique Sereno and right-back Inigo Calderon took up positions to protect the goal showed why FC Goa, for all their attacking verve and possession, could never really find a route to goal.
But if everyone in the home team’s back four played with the kind of assuredness that made the 19013-strong crowd confident that Chennaiyin FC could batten the hatches and keep it that way till the Gaurs go home, FC Goa showed why they leaked 28 goals --- the maximum among semi-finalists --- in the league phase.
For the first 16 minutes, Chennaiyin FC had hardly known what it felt like having a football to play with. But in the next 16, they had sealed the game.
Lalpekhlua had missed a free header in the 21st minute and that was the match’s best chance despite traffic going entirely the other way. With Gregory Nelson being their attacking heartbeat, Chennaiyin FC targeted the right side of FC Goa’s defence and it cracked when an Alves’ ball found Lalpekhlua unmarked. Even during a dry run, he doesn’t miss them from this close.
From looking unsure, Lalpekhlua was then a man transformed. He held on to the ball to win a free-kick and this time, Nelson floated his delivery deep for Ganesh to flick home.
Yes, FC Goa still had the odd move going but for the most part, the deadly duo of Lanzarote and top-scorer Ferran Corominas were kept quiet.