Chennaiyin missed the opportunity to win three wins out of three after being held to a stalemate by East Bengal. Despite the draw, the Marina Machans jumped to the top of the table.
24 shots, no goals – despite their best attempts to alter the scoreline, dominant Chennaiyin were held to a 0-0 draw by East Bengal. The Marina Machans created loads of opportunities and shot plenty but were unable to beat Suvam Sen in the EBFC goal, who, while he didn’t have loads to do, was on his feet when called upon.
Sen’s first save of the match in the 9th minute was his most crucial; the custodian denied Mirlan Murzaev from point-blank range to keep his side going behind in the early stages. An early opportunity spurned did not dampen Chennaiyin’s spirits, though, as the Marina Machans kept piling the pressure on their opponents.
Lallianzuala Chhangte – scorer of a wonder-goal in the Marina Machans’ last match – flashed his shot wide of the post from inside the box in the 20th minute. Five minutes later, a rehearsed Chennaiyin corner was nearly turned past his goalkeeper by East Bengal midfielder Amir Dervisevic.
A bruised and battered East Bengal somehow stumbled into the break without giving away any goals to their opponents, but things did not improve for the Red and Gold brigade after the interval. Minutes after the restart, Dervisevic gave the ball away to Chhangte, who burst into the box and had his goalbound shot blocked by Tomislav Mrcela. From the resulting corner, East Bengal survived a mini-onslaught by throwing bodies in the way of opposition shots.
21-year-old Rahim Ali was given the nod by head coach Bozidar Bandovic in attack. The youngster had two glorious opportunities to repay his coach’s faith – one in the 50th minute and one shortly after – but he missed the target on both occasions. East Bengal created a couple of opportunities for themselves past the hour mark, but Antonio Perosevic and Raju Gaikwad both missed the chance to steal the lead.
With both sides missing their shooting boots, the match ended 0-0. Nevertheless, it provided Chennaiyin with enough leverage to move to the top of the league. East Bengal, on the flip side, languish in the lower rungs of the table and are still winless.
