Defending Indian Super League champions Chennaiyin FC got their second win of the tournament by defeating league table toppers NorthEast United 1-0 on Thursday. The Super Machans defence kept the NorthEast attackers, which includes league top scorer Emiliano Alfaro, at bay and was spectacular on the night.
Either side did not have any many chances in the first half, however, the breakthrough was made by Chennai during the first few minutes of the second half. It was Italian striker Davide Succi's sweet volley at the 49-minute mark that gave the defending champions the win.
Table toppers NorthEast United kept on knocking on the door after Chennai opened the scoring, however, the back four of the Super Machans were too good for the home side.
Here are five talking points from the game.
#1 Bernard Mendy back to his best
The Chennaiyin FC player was rock solid against NorthEast United on Thursday. The French centre-back made sure that the home side's man in form Emiliano Alfaro did not have an easy game and his every tackle was on point on the night.
One of the best contributions of the former Paris Saint-Germain was his world class tackle on Alfaro in the penalty which prevented the Uruguayan striker from having an easy go on goal. Overall Mendy was a total beast at the back for Chennaiyin FC on Thursday.
The 35-year-old was poor in Chennai's first two games of the season, where the team failed to win any of the games and the defender looked rusty. The passes he made, the tackles, the aerial duels and even his chemistry with the other defenders was not the best during the first two fixtures.
The Frenchman was rightly dropped by Chennai's Italian manager Marco Materazzi against FC Goa and the men in blue ended up winning. Even though the Chennai defence kept a clean sheet without Mendy in their side, Materazzi decided to bring back the defender into the starting line-up against NorthEast and it completely paid off. Mendy proved why he is the captain of the side with a stellar performance.
#2 NorthEast struggle without Nicolas Velez
NorthEast United, who played in front of their home fans, struggled to make clear cut chances after their key playmaker Nicolas Velez went off injured. The team manager Nelo Vingada was forced to take off the Argentinean attacker at the 38-minute mark and the side looked bereft of ideas up top.
The league toppers' attack lacked sharpness after Velez was substituted. Katsumi Yusa, who moved to the 26-year-old's position after his injury, was not able to make an impact.
NorthEast had a lot of the ball but was not able to make anything out of it (Vingada's men had 63% possession but were only able to take four shots on target) and this shows how much the team struggled without the Argentinean. Emiliano Alfaro might be the league top scorer but today's game showed that Velez is actually NorthEast's key player.
#3 Jerry Lalrinzuala's commendable performance
The game against NorthEast was only Jerry's second start in the league, however, the 18-year-old put in a very mature performance. The young full-back, who was recruited from the All India Football Federation Elite Academy by Chennaiyin FC, showed no signs of inexperience against NorthEast's deadly attack.
Jerry made two substitute appearances in Chennai's first two fixtures and was poor in both of them. The defender was under criticism for conceding a crucial penalty in Chennai's opening fixture against Atletico de Kolkata, which led the game to end in a 2-2 draw. Jerry did not have a good game against Delhi Dynamos too and found it nearly impossible to handle Delhi's Kean Lewis and Marcelinho.
However, Chennaiyin FC manager Marco Materazzi gave the defender his first start of the tournament against FC Goa last week and the youngster made full use of it. The Super Machans' Italian manager was impressed by Indian starlet's performance and decided to give him another start against NorthEast United.
Jerry made some crucial defensive contributions and was immense for Chennai on Thursday night. The 18-year-old made a goal-saving tackle and also gave a tough night to NorthEast's Holicharan Narzary. The youngster has made a real statement and he might be probably continuing at left back for Chennai in their upcoming fixtures.
#4 Nelo Vingada's words come back to haunt him
NorthEast United coach Nelo Vingada had said that his side played like champions, after his team's victory against FC Pune City about a week ago, however, that was not the case on Thursday. The John Abraham co-owned team have not been able to win a game since the 63-year-old manager uttered the words of confidence about his team. NorthEast drew their game against Delhi on Saturday and now they faced defeat at the hands of Chennaiyin FC.
The Portuguese manager's men failed to create proper chances against the defending champions despite having the majority possession. All the NorthEast United players were able to do was just lump it into the opposition box without any real threat.
Vingada might point out Velez's injury as the reason for his team's defeat on Thursday, however, today's game proved that the Portuguese went a little bit too far when he said his team played like champions.
NorthEast United sit on top of the table with 10 points off six games but their loss to Chennaiyin FC gives them the risk of losing their spot to Mumbai City FC if the latter wins their game against FC Goa on Friday.
#5 Marco Materazzi's tactics were on point
We saw Chennai's Italian manager making some bold decisions with his team selection against NorthEast United, but now we know that it was all part of his well-worked plan. The 43-year-old's tactics and strategies saw his team outclassing the league table toppers.
One of the major changes the former Inter Milan player made to his last week's winning team was bringing in Bernard Mendy for John Arne Riise and the French defender was one of the best players on the night. Materazzi also decided to start Siam Hanghal and Maurizio Peluso, who were also very good on the night.
The Chennai defence gave NorthEast's man in form Emiliano Alfaro very tough treatment and that seemed as if it was one of Materazzi's ploys to disrupt the home side’s game. The former Italy International has experience dealing with top strikers and this experience of his has come to his aid during his managerial career too.
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