A second half blitzkrieg from Chennai City led by Manzi allows the Tamil Nadu side to secure all three points in first game of the season over Indian Arrows.
I-League action continues with NEROCA FC hosting East Bengal tomorrow at Imphal at 2 PM. Stay Tuned to Sportskeeda for further coverage of the I-League.
90+2' Boris' introduction in the midfield seem to have injected a fresh agility into the Arrows side. They are now looking very pacey in their attacking moves now.
90' Chennai City going strong till the final whistle, Sandro has been a constant threat at the left side with quick shots at goal keeping the Arrows defence under continuous pressure.
68' Pedro Manzini with a low cross into the box from the right but there is no one at the far side to tap it home. The Uruguayan is in some form tonight!
52' Nestor tries to find Manzi but Anwar Ali makes a timely interception, but Manzi dispossesses Anwar and tries to create some space for himself to shoot but is eventually outnumbered by the Arrows defence.
48' GOOAAAL! Pedro Manzi out-runs his marker and slots it past a hapless Gill from a tough angle to make it 2-1. Brilliant individual show from the Uruguayan.
After an early Arrows goal from Amarjit, it has been all Chennai City with Regin, Vanspaul, Nestor and Manzi combining brilliantly among themselves. Arrows failed to sustain the Chennai City juggernaut and conceded courtesy a Manzi masterclass.
36' Chennai City have really taken up the game by the scruff of the neck. They are dictating every department of play now not allowing the Arrows to have the ball at all.
31' GOAAAAAL! and it was coming! Nestor with yet another brilliant ball towards Pedro Manzi who with a perfect first touch rounds up Gill and smashes it home into an empty net to restore parity! 1-1.
18' Sandro finds Regin Michael on the righ who delivers in a pin-point cross to find Nestor Jesus heads it wide from an empty header as Gill was rooted to his position. Should have been the equalizer there.
12' Chennai City trying to get back into the game with quick wing play from Romario Jesuraj and Edwin Vanspaul at the two flanks but the final balls are unable to find the targeted Saffron shirt.
3' GOOAAAAL ! What a start to the game! Rahul gets away from his marker, gets in a low cross, Kabir fails to read the ball and leaves the goal wide open only to allow Amarjit Singh tap it home with ease!
Good evening! This is Sayak and I will keep you company throughout the next three hours or so for the I-League Opener between Chennai City FC and Indian Arrows! What are your predictions? Join our Live Chat!
Hello and Welcome to Sportskeeda's coverage of the Hero I-League 2018/19's first game as Chennai City host Indian Arrows in the opener.
With revamped squads at both the ends, the odds are evenly divided among the Arrows and Chennai City. The hosts will be looking to get their first ever win of the All India Football Federation's Developmental side as they failed to overcome them in the previous season. Arrows surprised everyone in the first leg as they put three past the Tamil Nadu side to win 3-0. The second leg ended in a goalless draw after a 90-minute show of Prabhusukhan Gill heroics.
Regin Michael, Captain, Chennai City has expressed his confidence going into the game and is positive about the result. Chennai City finished a lowly eighth in the previous season and are aiming for a Top-4 finish this time around. The Rohit Ramesh owned side has brought in Singaporean based Coach Akbar Nawas who has had coaching stints across South East Asia in a hope for better results.
Nawas has named Kabir, Pravitto and Vijay as the players to look for in today's I-League opener.
Indian Arrows on the contrary will feature popular names like Amarjit Singh, Abhijit Sarkar, Anwar Ali, Boris Singh, Suresh Singh and Aniket Jadhav from the India U-17 World Cup Squad. Jeakson Singh, India's only scorer in the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 is also part of the squad. Arrows will feature few U20 players with Deepak Tangri and Ashish Rai being among the few. The All India Football Federation also decided to promote the best talents from the India U-16 squad to the Arrows side. Rohit Danu being the notable name.
After Luis Norton de Matos and the Federation parted ways, the Arrows side has been under Floyd Pinto who is delighted to see the quick growth of young talent in the country as mentioned in the official Pre-Match Press Conference.
The game will be the first of the many chances for the youngsters to catch the eye of the National Team scouts to break into the AFC Asian Cup 2019 squad.
When and where to watch: You can catch the live streaming on Hotstar. The game will also be telecast LIVE on Star Sports 3 but if you have no Televisions around you then we have got you covered right here!
Kick-off is at 5 PM at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore
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