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Chennaiyin FC kept the pace with Atletico de Kolkata at the top of the ISL, as they dominated for large periods of a 3-1 win over a lacklustre FC Pune City.
Chennai made four changes from the team that played out a goalless draw at the Salt Lake Stadium as Bernard Mendy, Denson Devadas, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Bojan Djordjic came in for Mikael Silvestre, Dane Pereira, Marco Materazzi and Balwant Singh. Pune brought in Anupam Sarkar and David Trezeguet for Mehrajuddin Wadoo and Dudu.
First half full of injuries
As early as the third minute, Elano threaded an exquisite ball through to John Mendoza but the Colombian's finish was wayward. Pune soon responded in kind, with Davide Colomba firing wide from 30 yards out.
A monstrous throw-in from Dhanachandra Singh nearly caught Pune out a couple of minutes later, but Jeje's header went just over the bar. Chennai were much the brighter side in the early exchanges, and that almost bore fruit when Elano's corner resulted in a scrap in the penalty area, but Jeje's shot was saved by Arindam Bhattacharya in the Pune goal, and the rebound from Djordjic went wide.
But in the 14th minute, Chennai were dealt a huge blow as Elano pulled up and Materazzi was forced to take his star man off to be replaced by Bruno Pelissari.
That blow completely changed the dynamic of the game for Chennai, who looked lost for ideas without their top scorer. Pune never really found any sort of flow, and the game meandered along as both teams looked for some sort of inspiration.
In a first half where injuries were having more of an impact than the action on the pitch, both teams had a centre back each going off, as Daniele Magliocchetti and Gouramangi Singh were both replaced by Andres Gonzalez and Balwant Singh.
Chennai, despite the loss of rhythm still managed to control the game. Pelissari was next to threaten as his left footed shot drew a smart save from Arindam. There were few sparks of brilliance from Mendoza but Chennai could not profit from any of those openings.
In a first half that saw precious little goalmouth action, the crowd still managed to keep their spirits and get behind the home side.
Goals galore in the second half as Chennai dominate
The second half began much the same way as the first went, with Chennai the team asking the questions, and Pune standing firm. Mendoza burst through the middle but capped it off with a weak right footed shot that was easily caught by Arindam.
Pune's pre-match change of starting Trezeguet in place of Dudu didn't seem to be working as the Frenchman was only a peripheral figure in the game. Franco Colomba realized that and brought his Nigerian hit man barely ten minutes into the second half.
But that barely made any difference as Chennai kept pressing Pune, who couldn't seem to string five passes together. In the 61st minute, Chennai finally found reward for their persistence as Eric Djemba-Djemba's pass to Balwant Singh saw him lay the ball off to Mendoza, and when he was one on one with Arindam, he calmly chipped the ball over the goalkeeper and sent the crowd into raptures.
That goal seemed to spark the game to life, and after Pelissari had a chance to double Chennai's lead, Pune equalized with a freak goal. Djemba Djemba was caught out with the ball at his feet, and Pune managed to get the ball to Davide Colomba on the left flank, whose powerful low cross was deflected in to his own net by the hapless Djemba-Djemba.
Pune were on level terms for barely a minute, when Chennai retook the lead. Straight from the restart, Mendoza and Pelissari charged at Pune, and the Brazilian's powerful shot took a deflection from Bruno Cirillo on the way to beating Arindam. Pelissari though, will no doubt claim the goal, as his initial shot seemed to be on target.
The duo who caused Chennai so much trouble in the last game, Dudu and Kostas were shackled by a spirited Chennai defense led by the brilliant Mendy.
Chennaiyin were very professional in seeing the game through, and although Pelissari and Jean Eudes Maurice contrived to miss a sitter, Jeje sealed the victory for Chennai with a goal he deserved for the quality of his performance on the night.
Pune can have no qualms about the result, as their performance didn't warrant even a single point.
