The Marina Arena, as the ground is fondly known in the local circle, reflected the mood of the squad with their difficulty in picking up points this season. The numbers have been pretty low this campaign.
CFC coach Owen Coyle opted to start Debjit Majumder in goal, ahead of whom Ryan Edwards, Ankit Mukherjee, Ajith Kumar, and Bikash Yumnam put up a defensive barrier.
Italian Cristian Battocchio, Ayush Adhikari, Farukh Choudhary, and fan favorite Rafael Crivellaro were deployed in midfield, while Vincy Barretto and Jordan Murray led the attack.
Both teams struggled to find a footing in the game as the early exchanges of the game lacked any sort of bite. The teams vied for possession in the midfield before anything of substance could come to pass.
It almost seemed like the dark clouds were hovering over the stadium in Chennai for a bit there around the 18-minute mark as the crowd mistook the dim in the floodlights for a sign of rain.
However, the issue was sorted out in a couple of minutes as the players snuck in a quick drink and got to hear the coach’s input in that window.
Four minutes after the lights turned to full brightness, EBFC attempted a quick freekick but was pulled back by the referee. They went again with a legitimate attempt this time around but were thwarted by CFC custodian Majumder.
29 minutes on the clock and the scoreboard ticked, but to the dismay of the home support as Ayush Adhikari put the ball into his own net inadvertently to give the visitors the lead as EBFC went ahead.
CFC kept pushing forward in the hope of an equalizer and was awarded a free kick just beyond the half-hour mark in a mouthwatering position. But, the effort was hit straight down the throat of the torchbearers’ keeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill.
A brilliant corner routine courtesy of Vincy Barretto created an opening inside the box around 36 minutes but the opportunity came to naught as the keeper stood his ground to collect the ball in a composed fashion.
The unanticipated stoppages in the first period of the game yielded 6 added minutes from the fourth official’s board before the referee could bring the half to a halt as Chennaiyin kept most of the ball trying to find inroads into the danger area.
The second half began with the home team on the attacking front and were rewarded with a free kick at the edge of the box. But the attempt did not manage to clear the wall as EBFC pushed up on the counter, only to be thwarted by the CFC players rushing back.
Chennaiyin had a big chance to hit on the counter at the hour mark as they tried to move the ball upfield quick enough to get the East Bengal defensive line off guard, but the visitors’ back line returned to their position before CFC could attempt a shot on target. The effort ultimately did not manage to get past the defender.
Coyle had withdrawn Bikash and Murray at the halftime break to replace them with Irfan Yadwad and Lazar Cirkovic, who were joined by fresh legs Ninthoinganba Meetei and Jiteshwor Singh, who came in for Choudhary and Adhikari.
Meetei went on an adventurous run towards the goal as he slalomed with aplomb past the flatfooted defenders but couldn’t find a way in or a cross to swing in.
The CFC no. 7 tried to attack the box with his darting runs, but couldn’t find a way in beyond the determined EBFC backline.
With time running out and less than five minutes from the ninety, Chennaiyin found a way to draw level in the game as they capitalized on a defensive error. And it was the livewire Meetei, who put the finishing touches on the move to restore parity.
The crowd came alive for nearly the first time on the night as chants of CFC boomed at the Marina Arena as the 6.5k odd people gathered at the ground celebrated the goal.
The closing minutes of the game promised to be tense and lived up to the expectation as ill-tempered exchanges prevailed before
Crivellaro played a delightful cross into the box along the ground which proved just a bit too fast for Barretto to get to in time as the EBFC camp breathed a sigh of relief.
The game ended 1-1 as Chennaiyin and East Bengal shared the spoils with neither team managing to get the decisive goal within the stipulated ninety.
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