ISL 2: Goa grind Chennaiyin
Chennaiyin’s penalty count went up to seven from eight matches
By : t.n. raghu
Update: 2015-11-06 06:12 GMT
Chennai: The tiny white spot, 12 yards away from the goal line, gobbled up Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League here on Thursday. FC Goa converted two second-half penalties to condemn the home team to a 2-0 defeat at the Nehru Stadium.
Chennaiyin’s penalty count went up to seven from eight matches and Zico’s Goa accepted the presents gleefully to grab the lead with 14 points. Rafael Coelho Luiz, who joined Goa only for this match after leaving the Thai league, earned both the penalties. The Brazilian got to the end of a long clearance from the edge of his own box by the hour mark and left Chennaiyin’s central defender, Bernard Mendy, trailing with his pace. A desperate Mendy pushed Luiz and referee M.B. Santosh Kumar had to point the spot.
Leo Moura stroked the ball home nonchalantly to silence the crowd. Goa sounded the death knell for the hosts in the 78th minute. This time Santosh adjudged, somewhat harshly, that Chennaiyin FC’s right-back Mehrajuddin Wadoo had handled a close-range shot from Luiz. The result was the same, even though Jonatan Lucca assumed the scoring duties instead of his compatriot, Moura.
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