#2 NorthEast’s forced substitutions
The heartbreak for visitors came early in the sixth minute when their main defender Gustavo Lazzaretti pulled out due to an injury. And because of this, NorthEast coach Nelo Vingada had to make a forced substitution and bring on Wellington Priori. This pushed marquee player Didier Zokora back into the centre back position while Wellington Priori filled in the holding spot.
This forced tactical change unsettled the team as both the goals which they conceded in the first half was due to defensive lapses and the culprit both the times was Zokora. On the first occasion, he failed to mark Dudu who was free to head the ball in, while on the second occasion Dudu overpowered the Ivorian to tap in the ball.
The entire NorthEast backline looked more focused on containing Davide Succi and Raphael Augusto and maybe this made the job a little easier for Dudu. They, however, were successful in trapping both Succi and Augusto offside numerous times, thus neutralising the threat.
The second forced substitution for the visitors came in the form of Subrata Pal who had to be replaced because of an apparent thigh injury and this gave last season’s regular Rehenesh TP his first appearance of the season. Chennaiyin took full advantage of this and put a goal past the nervous keeper.
