Durand Cup 2023: Chennaiyin FC march into QFs, Delhi FC knocked out

Chennaiyin FC achieved victory in all their group games.

Chennaiyin FC beat Delhi FC 2-1 for their third consecutive victory in a Group E fixture played here at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium. Chennaiyin FC finished the Durand Cup group unbeaten securing nine points from three matches as they go into the quarter-finals with confidence while Delhi FC finished with two points from three matches courtesy of their two draws against Hyderabad FC and Tribhuvan Army FC. Rafael Crivellaro and Vincy Barretto scored for the winners while Pape Alassane Gassame scored one back for Delhi FC.

Chennaiyin FC Head Coach Owen Coyle rotated his squad making seven changes from the lineup that started against Tribhuvan Army FC. Defenders Ankit Mukherjee, Aakash Sangwan, Bikash Yumnam and Captain Jordan Murray maintained their place in the team. Delhi FC Coach Israil Gurung made five changes to the side which started against Hyderabad FC with foreign imports Sergio Barboza and Pape Alassana Gassame starting.

Delhi FC who wanted full points from this match to keep their knockout chances alive, took the attack to the Chennaiyin defence. They looked the more dangerous side going forward with Fahad Temuri and Bhupinder Singh lively down the flanks. They were constantly troubling the Chennaiyin defence but could not make full use of the chances.

Fahad Temuri, Sergio Barboza, Himanshu Jangra and Pape Gassame all had efforts going wide. Chennaiyin FC took full advantage of the single chance they got in the first half. Rafael Crivellaro received the ball from Aakash Sangwan and the Brazilian weaved his magic by foxing three Delhi FC defenders and calmly finishing past the goalkeeper to give Chennaiyin the lead. Kitboklang Khyriem tested Chennaiyin keeper Samik Mitra from distance which was saved comfortably. Incidentally, this was the only shot on target by the side from Delhi who had 13 shots in the half.

Owen Coyle brought in wingers Vincy Barretto and Alexander Romario Jesuraj in the second half which changed the attacking prowess of the Marina Machans. Chennaiyin doubled their lead in the 51st minute through Vincy Barretto. Sachu Siby made a good run down the left and found Vincy inside the box who finished in the bottom right corner past goalkeeper Nitish Mehra.

Delhi FC halved Chennaiyin’s advantage soon after as Pape Gasaame’s free kick curled above Samik Mitra and landed inside the goal. Chennaiyin FC could have put the match beyond Delhi but they could not convert the chances. Romario Jesuraj had two golden opportunities to score but he could not apply the finishing touches. Delhi FC attacked with vigour to find the equalizer but were unable to breach the opposition defence. Substitute Jiteshwor Singh’s effort was saved by Nitish Mehra at the other end.

In injury time, Sergio Barboza’s effort from distance was saved by Chennaiyin keeper Samik Mitra and the follow up effort was also pushed away by the keeper. Chennaiyin FC saw off the rest of the match keeping their unbeaten run intact and will wait to find out their quarter-final opponents.

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