Connor Shields scored his debut goal for Chennaiyin FC.
Chennaiyin FC got the better of Hyderabad FC by beating them 3-1 in the southern derby fixture of Group E which was played at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium.
Chennaiyin FC has taken the top spot in the Group with the victory. Jordan Murray, Connor Shields and an own goal from Alex Saji completed the score line for Chennaiyin while Chingelsana Singh scored for Hyderabad.
Key Highlights of the Game
The match started at a frantic pace with Hyderabad earning a corner early on. Hitesh Sharma was swept off his feet by Jitheshwor Singh conceding a penalty,as resulting penalty was converted with ease by the Hyderabad captain Chinglensana Singh.
Chennaiyin responded right away and equalized in the 6th minute through an own goal by Hyderabad defender Alex Saji. Farukh Choudhary’s cross from the left was deflected into his own goal by Alex in an attempt to clear.
Both defences looked off which was evident from the mistakes being made and one such mistake led to Chennaiyin taking the lead in the 15th minute.
Hyderabad goalkeeper Anuj Kumar’s wayward pass was intercepted by Jordan Murray who found Connor Shields across the box. Connor past the goalkeeper to score his first goal in Indian football and also take the lead for the team.
The Marina Machans continued to put pressure on the Hyderabad side as they looked to score from every attack. Hyderabad were lucky to break for the half by conceding just two goals.
Chennaiyin scored their third goal right from kick off. Ayush Adhikari lifted a simple ball above the Hyderabad defence catching them and Jordan Murray finished expertly past Anuj Kumar to increase the gap between the sides.
Vincy Barretto was threatening Hyderabad with his pace down the wings and could have added a fourth for his side but his effort was saved by the Hyderabad keeper.
Chennaiyin saw off the game to start their campaign in the Durand Cup on a high and secured top position in the group.
Punjab FC is yet to get their first Durand Cup 2023 victory
Punjab FC and Bangladesh Army Football Team played out a goalless draw in a group A fixture of the 132nd IndianOil Durand Cup which was played here at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharathi Krirangan.
This was Bangladesh’s FT second draw in the tournament against an ISL side after they had drew against East Bengal. With this, draw Bangladesh FT have completed their group engagements with two points from three matches while Punjab FC have 1 point from two matches.
Key Highlights of the Game
Punjab FC dominated possession from the start of the half with Juan Mera controlling the game in the midfield supported by Amarjit Kiyam and Maheson Singh.
The Bangladesh FT defence was defended deep in their half. Punjab tried to beat the tight defence with shot passes as the wing backs Nitesh Darjee and Abhishek Singh joined the attacks along with centre forward Daniel Lalhimpuia.
Bangladesh FT were content to play on the counter and used the set pieces well to create chances.
The first chance of the game, came for Punjab FC Daniel Lalhimpuia whose shot was saved by Bangladesh FT keeper Ashraful Islam Rana.
The best chance of the half came when Bangladesh captain Mehedi Hasan’s header back to his keeper was short and Daniel pounced on the opportunity but his shot was brilliantly saved by the Bangladesh’s keeper
Kamrul Islam’s pile driver of a shot was saved acrobatically by Punjab goalkeeper Ravi Kumar. Bangladesh forced Punjab FC attackers to take attempts outside the box as they found it difficult to penetrate the defence as the match remained goalless at the lemon break.
Punjab intensified their attack with Samuel Kynshi Lyngdoh shifting to the right wing. Daniel had a chance to score again from a cross by left-back Nitesh Darjee but his shot went wide.
Bangladesh FT continued to defend resiliently, not allowing Punjab FC to create any clear-cut left-back and putting multiple men behind each attack which made it tough for the Punjab FC attackers to break down the defence.
In the end, both teams shared a point each.
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