ISL 2024-25: Chennaiyin rides on controversial Chukwu goal to steal a point against FC Goa

With the point, Chennaiyin moved up a position into fifth, while Goa went above Mumbai City FC into eighth.

Daniel Chima Chukwu of Chennaiyin FC celebrates with teammates after scoring the equaliser. | Photo Credit: Shibu Preman / Focus Sports

Chennaiyin FC’s wait for a home win continued after the side managed a 2-2 draw against FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday.

It wasn’t the ideal result for Chennaiyin coach Owen Coyle, whose club announced a contract extension for the Scotsman, with the visiting side scoring two goals on either side of the news. But a controversial goal in the final quarter of the game rescued his side a point. It was an improved performance from Manolo Marquez’s men, but they remain winless in three games and have just six points in as many outings.

Goa was the sharper side for large swathes of the 90 minutes, with Chennaiyin looking one-dimensional in attack or running into dead ends. Its attacking pattern involved finding Connor Shields or Irfan Yadwad on the right to play in crosses to the target man, Wilmar Jordan Gil.

Brazilian Lukas Brambilla provided the much-needed spark in the middle of the park. The first goal came against the run of play when Brambilla ran at the Goan defence, leaving them for dead before Shields latched onto the loose ball and struck a volley to rattle the crossbar.

A few seconds later, Jordan Gil didn’t seem to know what he was doing when he put Chennaiyin ahead. CFC recirculated the ball into the box, leading to Shields playing in a dangerous cross into the goalmouth. Brambilla’s fiercely-struck shot rebounded off the unaware Jordanian and into the goal.

With Dejan Drazic back in the starting XI, Goa had a lot of bright moments on the ball without much luck in the opening half. Drazic did well to drop deep and hold up play to bring Goa’s wingers into action. But the Gaurs were let down by its poor finishing and final passes into the box.

In the fourth minute, an unmarked Brison Fernandes had the best chance of the game for Goa when the ball found its way to him, but his shot from close range was tame and straight at Samik Mitra. Goa was dealt a blow after the half-hour mark when Borja Herrera limped off to be replaced by Armando Sadiku.

The away side continued to dominate the ball, with Rowllin Borges finding himself in acres of space upfield and bringing in Udanta Singh’s runs down the channel into play. With Sadiku on, Goa played high crosses into the box while Bikash Yumnam and Laldinpuia had to make crucial interventions to deny the Albanian.

Late in the half, Goa squandered another big chance when Carl McHugh failed to hit the target with a free header from a corner. But, three minutes later, Udanta, from the same position, didn’t make the same mistake. The right-back, among the shortest men on the pitch at just 5’5”, leapt ahead of Shields to meet Akash Sangwan’s outswinging corner and looped his header into the far post goal to level things up for Goa.

A minute later, Chennaiyin unfurled a banner to alert Coyle’s extension until 2026. At the break, he was awkwardly brought out to acknowledge the fans before he hurried back inside to address his players.

Neither the interval nor the announcement seemed to have a bearing on Chennaiyin’s players, as they were second best to everything. Five minutes into the half, Sadiku played in a through ball to Drazic, who was brought down inside the box by Samik as the Serbian looked to round the ‘keeper. Sadiku stepped up to send Samik the wrong way and put Goa into the lead.

With nothing going his way, Coyle introduced Vincy Barretto, Elsinho and Gurkirat Singh as his reinforcements. Rowllin, among Goa’s best players until that point, had to come off after he appeared to pull his hamstring during another one of his lung-busting runs up the pitch.

Coyle then swapped out Jordan Gil for another powerful frontman, Daniel Chima Chukwu. But even then, Chennaiyin couldn’t string together a meaningful opening to trouble Goa.

But in the 77th minute, Chennaiyin received a much-needed lifeline when Chukwu’s header from a free-kick bounced off the crossbar before Kattimani scrambled to keep it back in play. The referee, though, awarded Chennaiyin the equaliser despite Kattimani’s protests that it hadn’t crossed the line.

With the fans behind its back, Chennaiyin hunted for the winner, and it nearly had it in the third minute of stoppage time. Chukwu angled his header again at goal from a cross by Gurkirat, but Kattimani pulled off a full-stretch save to keep the ball from going in.

With the point, Chennaiyin moved up a position into fifth, while Goa went above Mumbai City FC into eighth.