DSK Shivajians find winning formula, beat Chennai City 2-0 at home

by Balbir Singh January 17, 2017

Tuesday, Balewadi Stadium: DSK Shivajians opened their I-League account with a 2-0 win over Chennai City FC at home. Shivajians’ captain was in fine form, assisting the first goal scored on 26 minutes by K. S. Yong, and scoring the second himself from the spot, in the second half on 55 minutes.

The home-side, DSK Shivajians made three changes to the side which faced East Bengal; under-22 players Jerry Lalrinzuala and Rohit Kumar came into the team along with Ongnam Milan Singh. The visiting team made two notable changes, which saw Shahin Lal Meloli take the gloves in this match and Mudampara Malsawmfela started in the forward line.

The two sides made a very lively start to the match, finding early gaps to exploit; but lacked the control in the final third, to create any real damage on the opposition goal.

DSK Shivajians settled in well as the match progressed, looking certain to score. Meanwhile, Chennai were on the backfoot for the first quarter, with little support for Charles De Souza up-front to create any real damage on the break.

The finest opportunity to take the lead came in the 26^th minute when Juan Quero’s freekick from the edge of the Chennai City penalty area was parried away by an all-stretched Shahin Meloli in-goal.

Neither of the two sides presented the ability to penetrate with an incisive pass, as the match progressed. The goal, which was distant, but not unexpected to arrive, came on the stroke of half hour. Juan Quero’s free kick, long way out from the Chennai’s penalty, found an unmarked Kim Song Yong on 30 minutes, who headed the ball into the net, giving Shivajians the lead.

The first-half did not really have much to fathom up on, apart from the goal; as both sides seemed to talk too much time on the ball. The two sides headed into the halftime break, desperately needing to up the tempo in the second half of matters

DSK Shivajians doubled their lead, 10 minutes in the second-half. Juan Quero, who looked particularly lively at the start of the second-half, found Kim Song Yong with a neat diagonal pass, dissecting the Chennai defence. In his attempt to cut inside, Song was fouled by Celmente inside the box, leaving the referee with no other option but to produce a yellow card and award DSK Shivajians the penalty. Quero stepped-up and put the ball past the goalkeeper to give Shivajians a two-goal lead, as the match closer to the hour mark.

As the match entered into the final 20 minutes both teams made a number of changes to impact the game; Chennai City brought in a few fresh legs, while Shivajians gave new players a chance, having been 2-0 up.

In the end, neither of the changes came to make any significant impact on the full-time result, as the hosts recorded maximum points against Chennai City with a two-goal margin.