ISL 2024-25: Chennaiyin FC, FC Goa split points in exhilarating four-goal thriller

Chennai: Daniel Chima Chukwu scored a late goal as former champions Chennaiyin FC came from behind to hold FC Goa to an enthralling 2-2 draw on Matchday 6 of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday night. Owen Coyle’s men took the early lead through Jordan Wilmar Gil but it was cancelled out by Udanta Singh before the break. The second half saw the visitors go up through Armando Sadiku’s spot-kick but Daniel Chima Chukwu restored parity for the Marina Machans. The hosts started the game with complete authority as they made some vicious attacks in the first quarter. The Marina Machans had three cracks at the goal in the 11th minute when Lukas Brambilla’s initial effort was blocked, but the ball ricocheted and reached Gil. The Colombian was also denied but Connor Shields picked up the loose ball yet unfortunately, his long-range effort struck the crossbar. They redeemed themselves seconds later by taking the lead. Initially, Brambilla’s shot was blocked haphazardly by Jay Gupta as the ball rebounded off Gil and ended up in the back of the net. After conceding, the Gaurs tried to push forward in search of a breakthrough but lacked the final touch in the penalty area. Just when FC Goa were growing into the game, they suffered a major setback with Borja Herrera’s injury closer to the drinks break. Manolo Marquez turned to Armando Sadiku, thereby tweaking his formation. The change brought some momentum for the visitors as they showed more hunger in attack looking for the equaliser. They had a couple of golden opportunities falling for Carl McHugh, who despite being unmarked failed to hit the target with his headers. Eventually, Manolo’s men found the equaliser right at the stroke of half-time when Aakash Sangwan, with his beautiful cross from the left, found Udanta Singh in space. The 28-year-old shouldered the ball past Samik Mitra to pull the scores level. The goal surely spurred them on to take the lead in the second half and they did exactly that. The visitors secured the lead in the 51st minute through Sadiku’s spot-kick after Samik Mitra brought down Dejan Drazic in the penalty area. With this goal, Sadiku became the first FC Goa player to score in five consecutive ISL games. FC Goa almost scored another goal when Brison Fernandes and Boris Singh combined to haunt the Chennaiyin backline. However the former was flagged offside. To restore parity, Owen Coyle turned to Daniel Chima Chukwa, replacing Wilmar Gil in the 67th minute. Meanwhile, Manolo also brought on Iker Guarrotxena in place of Drazic to add more presence upfront. But it was Chukwu, who became the super-sub scoring the equalizer in the 79th minute with a thumping header from Connor Shields’ flagkick. The forward almost scored the winner for Chennaiyin FC in stoppage time when Mandar Rao Dessai found him in the box with a telling cross but the Nigerian’s header was exceptionally kept out by Kattimani. In the end, both teams had to settle for a point. The match lived up to its expectations with four goals coming in and taking the tally of goals in the fixture to 99, since the inception of ISL. In Gameweek 7, Chennaiyin FC will travel to New Delhi to face the high-flying Punjab FC on October 31 while FC Goa will host league leaders Bengaluru FC on November 2. –IANS