In a highly entertaining and equally high error-filled clash, Chennaiyin FC beat Kerala Blasters 6-3 in the Indian Super League match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. Bartholomew Ogbeche’s hat-trick could not save his team as Chennai attackers Nerijus Valskis, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Rafael Crivellaro notched up a brace each, making the most of the defensive errors by the home team.
It was billed to be a game of attacking football between two South Indian rivals with a bitter history. As it turned out, both teams put on a show and some more. But more than the attacking football, it would be the defensive howlers that this goal fest will be known for.
An injury-hit Kerala team looked to begin the game on a strong note. The team clearly showed more intent in the opening exchanges, moving forward, pressing hard and finding gaps, while the Chennai players laid low and ambled about aimlessly. Kerala even came close to scoring on several occasions, but 38 minutes passed with barely a handful of noteworthy events.
It was when the crowd started getting restless and losing interest in the game that the goal rush and the comedy of errors began.
The first goal came in the most anti-climactic way possible. A back pass was played to Blasters goalkeeper T.P. Rehenesh, and instead of clearing the ball, he attempted a poorly weighted ground pass, straight into the path of Chennai’s Rafael Crivellaro. The Italian attacking midfielder only had to pass the ball into the gaping net, as Rehenesh was left punching the ground in frustration.
Four minutes later, the league’s top scorer, Nerijus Valskis, initiated a counter-attack for Chennai from the halfway line, aided by the seemingly omnipresent Crivellaro. As the Kerala defenders converged on him, Crivellaro laid a through ball back to his unmarked striker, who hammered it home.
By then, the Kerala defenders—particularly the slow, aging centrebacks Gianni Zuiverloon and Raju Gaikwad—should have learnt their lesson. But they continued to play a high line against the lightning-fast Chennai attackers, and were punished again for miscalculating an offside trap.
Within two minutes of the second goal, and deep into added time of the first half, Chennaiyin midfielder Anirudh Thapa squeezed a ball through the Kerala defenders, from behind the halfway line. Valskis was offside, but he smartly left the ball for the onrushing Crivellaro to take it and gallop towards the goal, with no Kerala players in sight. With a cool finish and a second for Crivellaro, the game was put to bed, in those final six minutes of the first half.
A rattled Kerala side, three goals down, walked into the dressing room dejected, but came out looking for blood. The response was instant. A long searching ball from left back Jessel Carneiro found his skipper Ogbeche, and with his first touch, the Frenchman sliced it into the bottom left corner of the goal. The strategy was clear: be more direct.
Not that it really helped. The opponents’ attackers were quick and ruthless in picking on the error-prone Kerala defenders. It was 3-1 and there was a glimmer of hope for Kerala, if the defence held together.
But then came the fourth for the away team—a misplaced pass in the penalty box yet again. Centre back Raju Gaikwad intended to pass the ball to his keeper. Valskis grabbed it in front of Rehenesh and teed it back to Chhangte, who made it four-one.
Despite his defence hemorrhaging goals, Ogbeche was still in the game. In the 65th minute, midfielder Sergio Cindoncha gave the marksman a seemingly innocuous pass through the centre. Ogbeche immediately turned towards the goal and from 20 yards out, curled the ball into the net, past the outstretched goalkeeper.
Ten minutes later, Ogbeche completed his hat-trick. As a looping cross from Narzary came in, Ogbeche, surrounded by defenders, jumped the highest to head it home. It was 4-3 and strong hopes of a comeback surfaced for the home fans for the first time in the game.
Chennai had other plans though. As the suspended Blasters manager Eelco Schattorie was seen ranting and raving about in the stands, Chennai’s fifth goal came as swiftly as its previous ones. It was Chhangte again who, on the counter, lashed the ball into the goal from the edge of the box.
As the final whistle approached, Valskis completed the rout with another deft finish to make it two apiece for the three attackers.
The result means that Kerala are virtually out of the running for the semifinals, with their third loss on the trot leaving them nine points behind fourth-placed Mumbai City with three games to go. Chennaiyin, meanwhile, take yet another huge leap towards the last four with their fourth consecutive victory. They are two points behind Mumbai, with a game in hand.
The team’s remarkable turnaround from languishing at the bottom before coach Owen Coyle’s arrival in December, to pushing for a semifinal berth, is reminiscent of the club’s 2015 title winning run. Having scored 10 goals now in two games, it looks like something is brewing once again in the Chennai camp. For Kerala, another disappointing end to the season beckons.
