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Chennaiyin FC struck a hammer blow to FC Goa's chances of making the playoffs of the Indian Super League while enhancing their own with a 1-0 win away at the Fatorda Stadium.
Another good defensive performance saw the away side come away with the three points in the end as Goa failed to find the back of the net despite some great chances.
Here's what stood out from the game.
#5 Third time lucky for Jeje and Chennaiyin
The away side realized that they were in with a good chance here after seeing a flat performance from Goa and they were able to fashion a handful of good goal-scoring opportunities. They would have been disappointed though at not having made the most of them.
Jeje Lalpekhlua could have twice put them in front; in the first half after an initial save from Goa keeper Naveen Kumar, the rebound fell to Jeje, but though well struck, his shot was close to Naveen who made a decent save down low. In the second half, two minutes after the restart, a Gregory Nelson cross was touched into Jeje's path by Naveen, but Jeje's side-footed effort lacked power and Narayan Das was able to recover before the ball could cross the line.
Five minutes later, however, Chennaiyin were finally able to put the ball in the back of the net. Naveen's save from a Nelson shot fell to Jeje and this time the Mizo man just decided to put the ball back into a crowded area. It took a touch from two Goa defenders, Bruno Pinheiro and Das, before going into the goal.
#4 Notable absentees next game
When you have three yellow cards and are on the brink of suspension if you get a fourth, what's the silliest thing you can do?
That's right, how about a two-handed push on your opponent's shoulder?
That's what Chennaiyin's Dhanapal Ganesh did in the 10th minute of the match when he pushed Manuel Lanzarote. So early in the game and so needless. Just bonkers!
Gregory Nelson will also miss Chennaiyin's next game after he took one for the team to stop a Goa counter-attack.
For Goa, Lanzarote will not feature in their next fixture after he lost his cool and picked up his fourth yellow of the season. He will be a big miss for them.
#3 Goa can't beat the bar
Thrice in this match, Goa had just the frame of the goalpost between them and a goal.
Edu Bedia in the 66th minute attempted to curl an effort into the top corner from outside the box. It didn't look like Chennaiyin keeper Karanjit Singh was going to get there and he was probably relieved to see it go off the top of the crossbar.
Brandon Fernandes rattled the upright in the 88th minute with an absolute thunderbolt off his left-foot. We've seen Brandon unleash such efforts in the past and he was so close here once again to doing likewise. The keeper was nowhere close and it was a certain goal had it just done a little bit less.
And finally Coro's effort in the 88th minute somehow someway stayed out. His clever flick with the outside of his boot beat Karanjit, but came off the upright, onto Karanjit's back and then somehow ran parallel to the goal-line before Jerry Lalrinzuala could steer it out to safety.
#2 Chennaiyin grind out a much-needed three points
After taking the lead in the 52nd minute, Chennaiyin had to fend off a late charge from the Goans to come away with the three points here.
Chennaiyin rode their luck a bit, but also defended very well to keep Goa out. Their backline, bolstered by the return of captain Henrique Sereno really stood up to the challenge in those final 10 minutes when Goa were pressing.
Diving headers, bodies on the line to block shots, timely clearances; Chennaiyin did everything possible to secure the win. Their effort was best encapsulated by the goal-line clearance in the 89th minute when Coro looked certain to score from six yards out, only to see Jerry block his effort on the line.
#1 Where do FC Goa go from here?
It has not been the best of times for the Gaurs of late. Their coach Sergio Lobera, throughout the season, has talked about how he would like his side to stick to their guns, a philosophy of 'we will score more than you'.
Today, in a match that had plenty of stakes, that philosophy was nowhere to be seen. They looked flat, didn't have a shot on target for almost an hour. Some of the usual pressing from their side wasn't seen either.
Playing at home with your side needing three points to get into the top four, you thought they'd show more initiative, but none of that was on display for a good portion of this match.
You could say Goa were unlucky in the end, but the question remains though why did it take Goa so long to wake up in this match. And Chennaiyin really could have had a bigger lead had they taken their chances from earlier in the match. It was only after going a goal down that Goa really started putting some good attacks together. In the end, their 25 minutes of good football couldn't salvage the mediocre effort they had put up before that.
Their season hangs in the balance after this loss as they are now winless in four and have just one point from a possible 12.
