ISL 2015: Chennaiyin FC 1-2 NorthEast United- 5 Talking Points

NorthEast United recorded their second straight victory by beating Chennaiyin FC in a rain-interrupted match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai. Chennaiyin now becomes the second team after Atletico de Kolkata to have lost both their home and away matches to NorthEast United. Chennaiyin played a dominating game and maintained most of the possession, but it was The Highlanders who had the final laugh. They now climb up to fifth position as they head to Guwahati for the home leg of their matches. Here are five talking points from the match.

#1 Chennaiyin dominate rain-interrupted first half, courtesy Elano

Elano celebrates after opening the scoring for Chennaiyin

It was an aggressive start for Chennaiyin with Mendoza making a dangerous move in the very first minute of the match. The first half of the first half, yes you read it right, the match was interrupted by heavy rains and lightning in the 25th minute, was completely dominated by the home team. They created a number of chances to keep the NorthEast goalkeeper busy.

In the 15th minute, Elano made a beautiful cross which Balwant headed high. The Elano machine was slowly warming up; he was not only creating dangerous attacks but also seizing a lot of possession from the opposition team. A goal was surely in the making for the Brazilian, only for the rain to play spoilsport.

But once the play resumed, he was on song again as in the 27th minute he received a dangerous cross from Thoi, which he shot wide. The goal finally came in the 32nd minute for Elano. Andre Bikey headed a cross away from the penalty area, but the ball fell nicely at the feet of Elano which he expertly volleyed into the bottom left corner.

#2 NorthEast \'Parking the Bus\'

Kamara scored the equalizer on 44 minutes to get NorthEast back into the game

NorthEast, as it looked like were surely parking the bus. With six players around the box, it was only Dadzie who was upfront. The ploy probably was to frustrate the Chennaiyin players with a compact defence and then attack. But things did not really go well for them as in the 32nd minute, Elano scored.

Almost immediately you could see a change of tactics from NorthEast as they started attacking. A flow came into the NorthEast mid-field, which looked intentionally missing prior to the first goal. The result was an equalizer in the 44th minute by Kamara.

Bruno sent in a good cross to the far post for Kamara which the forward headed straight at keeper Edal Bete who could not hold onto the ball. Kamara calmly netted the rebound to score the all-important equalizer.

#3 Unfortunate night for the hosts

Hero of the match Rehenesh produced a stunning save to deny Augusto

It was an unfortunate night for the hosts. Despite having possession and repeated attacks, they could not get their second. Chennaiyin had 9 corners, which speaks volumes of their attacking intent, but none of them turned fruitful as their desperation for an equalizer remained a desperation. Mendoza was particularly dangerous.

He chipped a ball into the post in the 51st minute when Rehenesh came running out of the box. Unfortunately, he was flagged offside, which turned out to be a very close call.

The Hero of the Match was deservedly young goalkeeper Rehenesh TP. Once again he produced a flurry of saves, keeping NorthEast alive in the match. His save against Augusto was a highlight in the game.

#4 Super Sub Silas

Super Sub Silas scored within a minute of coming on as he claimed all three points for NorthEast United

Farias has a special connection with his substitutes and he seems to know how and when exactly he needs to deploy them. And this time it was Silas who did the trick. Marquee player Simao Sabrosa, who started again today, was taken off in the 71st minute to make way for the oldest player in the NorthEast United ranks, Silas.

Almost within a minute of him taking the ground, Silas gave NorthEast the lead with a brilliant goal. Collecting a good delivery into the box, he controlled the ball beautifully and set himself up for the shot with a neat first touch. He then skillfully dissected the ball with a powerful shot into the back of the net.

#5 The worst team on form this season beat Chennaiyin FC twice

Chennaiyin have never beaten NorthEast United in the short history of the ISL

Last time around when Chennaiyin played NorthEast at Guwahati, a player from Chennaiyin called The Highlanders the worst team in the league. This was revealed by Coach Cesar Farias in an interaction to the media later. It was a high voltage match that saw a lot of altercations, including the managers arguing at the touchline.

Well, Chennaiyin has now lost twice to the ‘worst team’ this season. In fact, Chennaiyin has never beaten NorthEast United in the Hero Indian Super League. And Farias’s boys managed to keep this record intact today.