Lallianzuala Chhangte and Anirudh Thapa scored on either side of a Vishal Kaith own goal to help Chennaiyin beat NorthEast United 2-1. The Chennaiyin duo netted a pair of wonder strikes as the Marina Machans climbed to second in the table.
A couple of wonderful goals from Lallianzuala Chhangte and Anirudh Thapa helped Chennaiyin maintain their perfect start to the season. The Marina Machans beat NorthEast United 2-1 to record their second successive win. The Highlanders, on the flip side, were left waiting for their first success of the season.
Both teams exchanged early blows without making much of an impact. Chhangte forced Subhasish Chowdhury into making a sharp save at his near post with thirteen minutes played. At the other end, a last-gasp tackle from Slavko Damjanovic put Mathias Coureur from converting his chance after the forward was played in behind the Chennaiyin defence by Federico Gallego.
Chhangte was dangerous cutting inside from the right flank all night, and it was from there that the game’s opening goal arrived in the 41st minute. A loose touch from Khassa Camara set up a shooting opportunity for Chhangte on the right-side edge of the box, and the winger smashed a shot in off the crossbar the first time of asking.
United found a route back into the game five minutes after the restart, thanks to Vishal Kaith. The Chennaiyin custodian came off his line to punch a long throw to safety but made a complete mess of it; the ball, instead, bounced off him and landed into the back of the net.
Nonetheless, Kaith made amends in the 67th minute when he produced a fingertip save to deny Lalkhawpuimawia from distance.
Chennaiyin restored their lead in the 74th minute, courtesy of captain Anirudh Thapa; the central midfielder collected a pass from Mirlan Murzaev in his stride, burst into the box, and smashed a shot into the roof of the net. Bozidar Bandovic’s men held onto their advantage for the remainder of the game to go second in the table with six points from two matches. NorthEast United, meanwhile, remain winless and are down in ninth.
