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Chennaiyin FC and Minerva Punjab played out a goalless draw in their opening game of the AFC Cup in Group E. Chances were there for both teams to take the points, but the game ended in a stalemate after none of the openings were taken.
Chennaiyin FC dominated large parts of the match with possession with Minerva restricted to a couple of outside shots that tested Chennaiyin keeper Karanjit Singh.
Thoi Singh was once again active down Chennaiyin’s right flank and provided the team with its two best chances, both coming within a few minutes of each other in the second half.
In the 59th minute after being played into space by Anirudh Thapa down the right, his cross was snapped up by Minerva keeper Arshdeep Singh just before an onrushing Jeje Lalpekhlua could apply the finish.
And a few minutes later the Manipuri striker found himself in the box, charging his way through to try and get on the end of a cross from Tondonba Singh. His, however,however was just inches wide of the post.
Minerva threatened Chennaiyin's goal twice, both instances coming in the first half and both from powerful shots from outside the box. It was Kalif Al Hassan in the 25th minute and then Samuel Lalmuanpuia just 4 minutes later. Karanjit Singh was on hand to save each time for Chennaiyin.
In the end, Chennaiyin couldn't make their dominance with the ball count and the game finished 0-0.
Here were the main talking points from the game:
#1 ISL vs. I-League showdown in the AFC Cup
Minerva coach Sachin Badhade seemed very keen to stir up the debate of ISL vs I-League after the match. With all the recent spate of events in Indian football involving the I-League teams, it wasn't all that surprising.
Despite being content to defend for most of the game, barring a 15-minute spell in the opening half, Badhade's comments certainly stirred things up after the game.
"It was a really good game for us. In the first half, we had 4-5 chances that we missed. Looking at the situation - they are an ISL team and we are an I-League team - we are really above them in quality."
A pointed barb at the ISL and its teams, but after a performance where they didn't really play well seems to suggest that Minerva Punjab are focused more on the narrative than the actual performance here.
Chennaiyin FC coach John Gregory too referenced his counterpart's words saying, “They raised their game to play us. Defended very well and put numbers behind the ball. Credit to them for that, I guess they were keen to pit the I-League against the ISL.”
It is very clear that the ongoing Cold War between the ISL and I-League teams seems to have now gone to the Asian stage.
#2 CK Vineeth has an off game
After showing flashes of some of his old form in Chennaiyin FC's previous two matches, CK Vineeth had a shocker up front for the 2017/18 ISL champs.
Gregory has resorted to playing Vineeth up front in partnership with Jeje Lalpekhlua as opposed to wide in recent games and the move has paid off. It has helped Jeje improve his play.
In Chennaiyin FC's win against Mumbai City in the Super Cup, both Jeje and Vineeth scored, the latter's goal being an absolute stunner too.
However, on Wednesday against Minerva, Vineeth was guilty of giving the ball away very cheaply. His first touch and control really let him down and as a result, he really couldn't help Chennaiyin put good moves together.
One move summed up his day perfectly; Anirudh Thapa on as a sub had made a brilliant driving run from midfield with the ball with some numbers advantage for Chennaiyin FC. He passed the ball to Vineeth out on the left in space perhaps hoping a return ball. But Vineeth tried to shift the ball to his left foot and ended up wasting the move with a very poor touch.
#3 Minerva go with the false nine
The 2017/18 I-League champions started with their new loanee Samuel Lalmuanpuia up top as a false nine.
A midfielder by trade, Samuel played by himself at the front with 19-year-old Makan Chote on the right and Prabhjot Singh on the left behind him with captain Mahmoud Al Amnah behind Samuel.
He was largely isolated but did test Karanjit Singh with his powerful shot in the 29th minute.
Scoring goals has been an issue for Minerva Punjab all season and the fact that Samuel has gone straight to the front shows the desperation in the ranks to find a goalscorer.
In terms of combination play there wasn't too much from Samuel, but a lot of his focus today seemed to be to get into space and try and create shooting opportunities from range.
It was his first game for Minerva and he had mentioned pre-match that this was a chance for him to develop as well.
#4 Al Hassan the spark in Minerva Punjab's midfield
As they sat and absorbed the ball pressure from Chennaiyin FC, their go-to man for the offence was Kalif Al Hassan.
The Ghanaian looked really good on the ball showing great composure with an eye for a good pass.
He was also always the man who took Minerva's set pieces.
Despite Al Amnah playing directly behind Samuel in the No. 10 role, his influence on the game was far lesser than Al Hassan's who showed great control with the ball. The Chennaiyin midfield and defence found him very hard to shake off the ball.
Unfortunately for him, his full backs and wide men weren't quite on the mark to make full use of some of the positive possessions that he initiated.
Al Hassan looks to be central to Minerva Punjab's hopes of scoring goals during this AFC Cup campaign, as far as creating those chances is concerned.
#5 Ganesh gets game time for Chennaiyin FC
Defensive midfielder Dhanapal Ganesh whose absence Chennaiyin FC sorely felt during the entirety of their dismal ISL campaign featured for them in the last 10 minutes, coming on to replace Thoi Singh.
This was the second successive game where Ganesh was brought on as a sub by coach Gregory. In the Super Cup against Mumbai City, Gregory gave Ganesh a good 30 minutes as the midfielder slowly gets back to full match fitness.
Today he was brought on to shore things up at the back and have a potential impact during set pieces.
His return gives Chennaiyin FC a huge boost. Australian midfielder Chris Herd has been playing defensive midfield for them since his signing and he was even awarded the Man of the Match award in Wednesday's game against Minerva pUNJAB.
With Ganesh to back him up, the club will be pleased that this area of concern seems less of an issue now.
