Chennaiyin FC holds its nerve, makes final

                                  

Loses second leg to ATK, but does enough to set up a title clash against FC Goa

Chennaiyin FC entered its maiden Hero ISL final, riding on a 4-2 aggregate at the end of the second leg against Atletico de Kolkata at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Wednesday.

Chennaiyin lost the match 1-2 against the host and defending champion, but had enough in reserve, thanks to its commanding 3-0 win in the first leg in Pune, to secure its passage to the title clash against FC Goa.

ATK came close to pushing the action into extra time when it took a 2-0 lead in the 86th minute, but a moment of indiscretion from goalkeeper Amrinder Singh and defender N. Mohanraj put paid to its hopes.

Substitute Fikru Teferra, who played for ATK last season, proved to be its nemesis when he snatched the ball from Mohanraj, who had fumbled it after a throw-in by Amrinder near the box, and ran in to score.

Till this moment the host was calling the shots with Dejan Lekic and Iain Hume scoring in either half.

Lekic’s opportunistic goal defined the tenor and temperament of the first half, where the host dominated a fairly reserved visiting side looking to preserve its 3-0 advantage.

The absence of two of ATK’s most consistent international recruits — Spaniard Borja Fernandez and Botswana’s Ofentse Nato — owing to injury forced coach Antonio Habas to make some alterations. The host brought in the big Serbian striker Lekic and Mohanraj as replacements.

Lekic’s introduction saw the host move into ultra-offensive mode with Canadian Iain Hume and South African Sameehg Doutie making it a three-man attack.

Lekic got his first look at goal in the fifth minute, but his attempt from the top of the box went wide.

Hume could have broken through in the 13th minute, but he failed to control the ball inside the box and lost out to the doughty Frenchman Bernard Mendy in the centre of Chennaiyin’s defence.

Marco Materazzi spun a defensive web around the host, apparently drawing the plot from his Italian schooling in the famous Catenaccio system.

It could be judged from the extra men Materazzi employed to thwart the ATK attackers whenever they approached the Chennaiyin box.

Apart from the two goals, ATK earned at least five more opportunities which it could not capitalise on. The Chennaiyin defence — especially Mendy, Brazilian Malison Alves and the Bete under the bar — did exceptionally well to keep the ball off the line.

There were moments of tension towards the end of the match when Japanese referee Yudai Yamamoto had to regularly flash the yellow card to contain the warring opponents, especially after the second goal that came off a brilliant left-footer from Hume.

The worst came in the ejection of Habas, who was asked to leave the technical area for animatedly protesting against the referee. The refereeing left a lot to be desired as Yamamoto seemed to be unnecessarily lenient at times, thereby aggravating the situation.

The result: Atletico de Kolkata 2 (Dejan Lekic 22, Iain Hume 86) bt Chennaiyin FC 1 (Fikru Teferra 90+2).

Chennaiyin FC wins 4-2 on aggregate to enter the final.