Talking Points: Shooting boots missing for Aizawl?

Gift Raikhan's side are in dire straits as they are currently stuck at the bottom of the league standings.

It was a heated game in Aizawl, as league leaders Chennai City heaped more misery on bottom-placed Aizawl FC by winning 2-1 at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. Sandro Rodriguez stepped up for the benched Pedro Manzi and scored a spectacular brace to hand over the win to the visitors. With five games played, Chennai are unbeaten in the league with four wins and a draw, as they are already seven points clear off second-placed East Bengal, who have two games in hand.

On the other hand, hosts Aizawl continue to languish at the bottom of the table with just two points from five games, as they are facing a poor start to the I-League season. Although, Ansumana Kromah scored the much-needed equalizer, it wasn’t enough for Gift Raikhan’s side as the visitors took the lead again and held on to the win.

Here are the talking points from this exciting top flight fixture:

5. Shooting boots missing for Kromah and Dodoz

The hosts started the game pretty well as a couple of defensive errors by Chennai provided great chances for them to score. However, their attackers failed to take an early lead in the game and faced the consequences later on.

Furthermore, Kromah and Leonce Dodoz missed a lot of opportunities as the game proceeded. For instance, the latter missed a couple of close range chances as he shot straight into the hands of the keeper. Meanwhile, Kromah made a good effort by heading the ball from a decent cross by Dodoz, but the keeper did really well to prevent it from going in. 

4. Roberto Eslava is the key man in Chennai City's defence

Eslava was the skipper instead of Manzi and led his side by example

After a shaky start, Eslava brought the Chennai defence together and stood up as a strong man to stop the opposition attackers from entering into the danger zone.

With their head coach being sent off at half-time, the 30-year-old took the responsibility and led the team from the back and certainly had a great influence on the game. Eslava picked up an injury late in the game, but continued to play until the final whistle.

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3. Sandro-Nestor partnership working well

It was a surprise when the lineups were announced as Chennai's top scorer Pedro Manzi was benched. However, the Uruguayan’s absence didn’t matter for the league leaders as Sandro Rodriguez and Nestor Gordillo paired up pretty well in the attack and gave nightmares to the opposition defence.

Nestor in particular looked quite active with the ball as he dribbled past his markers on several occasions. He almost got an assist in the first half on one such occasion, when he created a great chance for Sandro, but the Spaniard shot far wide. Nevertheless, Sandro scored spectacularly from a free-kick in the 50th minute to give his side the much-needed lead.

2. Youngster Kabir Thaufiq steps up on the occasion

The young goalkeeper was the best player on the field due to his stunning saves

The 21-year-old was outstanding under the bar as he produced an impressive performance against Aizawl. Kabir took a bad hit on his head from Kromah in the first half, but persevered to play until the final whistle. The young keeper pulled off some great one-on-one saves.

He was unfortunate during Aizawl’s equalizer as Edwin Vanspaul failed to clear the ball from a cross and it landed straight at Dodoz’s feet. The ball was eventually tapped in by Kromah for the opposition. However, overall, it was a splendid performance by the youngster.

1. Poor refereeing continues to plague the I-League

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Referee Tanmoy Dhar had a poor outing in Mizoram. The referee sparked a huge controversy, as he denied Chennai a clear penalty when Aizawl’s Duat handled the ball inside the box during a clash with Ajith Kumar. Subsequently, Tanmoy stopped the game in the middle of play to how a yellow card to Ajith, who strongly protested his decision to not give a penalty to his side.

Again as he blew the half-time whistle, he had a tussle with Chennai head coach Akbar Nawas on the touchline, which resulted in the latter’s sending off.