East Bengal 0-1 Chennaiyin FC Highlights: Vafa’s goal wins it for CFC in ISL 2022-23

A set-piece goal by Vafa Hakhamenshi secures three points for Chennaiyin FC as East Bengal slumps to its fourth win in five games.

Chennaiyin FC captain Anirudh Thapa leaves the field as Edwin Vanspaul gets on. Final few minutes for CFC to cling on to the slender lead.

Cleiton Silva tries to start a counter attack as he amkes a run from the EB half. But Duker stops him in his tracks with a rash challenge and gets into the book for the same.

Cleiton Silva tries to attack on the counter. He gets in the final third and tries deliver a through ball for Eliandro, which is intercepted by Debjit to end that attack

Al four meetings between the two sides have ended as draws. After 85 miuntes into this one, this one looks to move into a similar consequence as the ball ends up in Debjit’s gloves after a touch off Jangra.

Jordan O’Doherty delivers a righ-footed curler which is headed out for a corner kick. The corner kick is headed off-target by Chungchunga

Sarthak strikes his arm on Anirudh Thapa and the referee takes his yellow card out. The EB defender was already on a yellow and he leaves the field with both sides down to 10 men now.

Vafa gets a yellow card for removing his shirt after scoring the goal. He as already on a yellow card and so he leaves the field, with CFC reduced to 10 men now

Aakash Sangwan takes the corner kick, which is headed into the net by Vafa. EBFC 0-1 CFC

Jangra tries a shot from distance, but Ajith is there to make a clinical block and Duker clears the ball on the follow-up

ISL Champion Aniket Jadhav takes the field replacing Semboi Haokip as Stephen Constantine looks for more power in its arsenal in the last 30 minutes of the match.

Rahim delivers a pass to Sliskovic, who runs into the box, trying to beat Kamaljit, but the EBFC goalie gets to the ball first. Brdaric appeals for a penalty. So does Sliskovic, but the referee rules play on.

Vafa fouls Semboi with a late challenge as Chennaiyin sees its first player get booked in this match.

The East bengal goalkeeper gets into the book for a protest against refereeing decisions on the field. Second booking of the day and both have come for EBFC

Jerry delivers a long ball ro Cleiton, who heads the ball down to set up Kyriakou and Kyriakou shoots just over goal.

Prashanth gets the ball off a throw-in and cuts into the box as Ivan is caught off-guard. But Kamaljit makes a good save to deny the final shot by the CFC player.

East Bengal tries to build an attack with Cleiton clung to the ball and then the ball is passed to Jangra, who makes a run along the left to whip across the ball, that flies over the net

Chennaiyin tries an atack on the opposite flank, Ajith crosses for Prashanth, who had barged into the box, but Ivan forces the ball out for a corner kick. The corner kick, in the follow-up is shot wide off-target by Rahim Ali.

Brdaric’s side on the offensive from kick-off. Rahim Ali makes a run along the left flank and crosses in the centre, for Sliskovic and Thapa. But neither to get to it on time as CFC loses out on another chance to scre.

Another 45 minutes for the sides to break the deadlock and most likely, find a definitive end in the fixture for the first time. Half-time change for EB: Mahesh replaced by Jangra.

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After an intense 45 minutes, neither side could break the deadlock as the score remains 0-0 at half-time.

A long ball from Diagne for Rahim, but Kamaljit intercepts and gets the ball first. Meanwhile, Rahim and Chungnunga get into a scuffle, which is finally resolved by a verbal warning by the referee.

Prashanth makes a run along the right flank, crosses for Rahim Ali on his left. But Sarthak intercepts on time to deny a header by the CFC forward

Chingnunga delivers a brillant long ball to start an attack against the run of play. Vafa is caught napping as Cleiton gets to it, but fails to keep the ball on target with a poor shot in the circumstances.

Anirudh Thapa makes a run into the East Bengal box and shoots on target. However, Kamaljit makes a good save to deny the opening goal of the match. The corner that follows, sees him make a poor cross as EB restarts play with a goal kick.

Chhenaiyin goes for another attack. Sangwan, replacing Das, gets the ball in the left flank and crosses for Sliskovic. The CFC forward’s touch is way off-target and the referee gives a goal-kick despite the striker appealing for a corner kick

Despite both sides attacking well, neither has been able to beat the goalkeeper with the score locked at 0-0 for now.

Cleiton and Suhair pair up for another East Bengal attack. This time, the latter’s pass to Suahir, sees VP cross to his right. But Ajith, tracking back on time, clears the ball away.

Suhair turns creator this time with a cross from the right for Haokip. The Indian forward heads on target, but it is saved easily by Debjit.

Brdaric’s side forced to make a change as Narayan Das looks to have injured his hamstring. The CFC defender leaves teh field as Aakash Sangwan replaces him

EB attacks on the counter and crosses to his right, for Suhair. The former NEUFC forward beats CFC’s back line with his pace, but fails to keep the ball on target. However, in the replay, it was clear that it would have been ruled out if he had scored, as he was already off-side.

Rahim Ali tries to get a cross from the right, but Ivan and Chungnunga close him down, getting it to Cleiton.

Constantine’s side is keeping a firm four-member defence at the back, which is changing to a 3-5-2 shape often as Brdaric’s side rallies up the pitch. Chennaiyin has created the most attacking chances in the league so far (11.67)

Except the shot from Sliskovic, the teams have managed to keep their backline in place as the score remains 0-0 after the first quarter of an hour in Kolkata.

Anirudh Thapa sets up Sliskovic, who makes a run into the box, beats his marker Ivan and shoots with his left foot. However, the ball comes off the outside of the woodwork.

Anirudh Thapa gets a cross from his right, but just before he could land a shot, Suhair tracks back and makes a late challenge to deny a shot. No penalty claim by Thapa, while some CFC players do have a word with the referee for the same. However, the referee rules play on.

Rahim Ali gets the ball into the final third, crosses to Ajith, but his cross is cleared by O’ Doherty. However, Thapa sets up Rahim Ali in the folow-up, whose header is just off-target

The East Bengal player fouls Duker through a late challenge and gets into the book as the German goes down to the ground.

Mahesh takes the free kick, but his left-footed curler is cleared. However, East Bengal continues to press and O’Doherty’s cross earns EB a corner kick, which is finally cleared out of danger by the Marina Machans.

The Indian Super League match between East Bengal and Chennaiyin FC is underway and East Bengal gets a free-kick right away

After the Indian National Anthem and team photographs, the players take the field. Chennaiyin starts right to left, while East Bengal starts from the other end.

Both sides walk out of the tunnel, set for the exciting Indian Super League clash. East Bengal to start in its home colours of red and gold, while Chennaiyin starts in white.

East Bengal and Chennaiyin FC have met four times in the past all the four matches have ended as draws. Each side has scored four goals so far and the last clash between them ended as a 2-2 draw.

East Bengal has three losses in its last five games and comes into the match after a loss to local rival ATK Mohun Bagan. Chennaiyin FC, on the other hand, has two losses in its last five matches, and will also look to get back to winning ways after a 0-2 loss to FC Goa.

Stephen Constantine, East Bengal: If we were playing badly and got dominated in the derby, I’d have been worried. But we did not get dominated by one of the best teams in Hero ISL. When a team formed just six weeks ago dominates a team like that, I think it is a very positive sign. We will try to give the best possible versions of ourselves and hopefully, that results in three points.

Thomas Brdaric, Chennaiyin FC: Football is very simple - if you cannot score, you cannot win. In the last match, we created a lot of good chances but ended up conceding silly goals. We analysed that aspect after the match and want to improve in our next game.

East Bengal FC: Kamaljit - Sarthak, Lalchungnunga, Gonzalez, Lalrinzuala - Suhair, O’Doherty, Kyriakou, Naorem - Haokip, Cleiton

Chennaiyin FC: Debjit - Narayan, Hakhamaneshi, Diagne, Ajith Kumar - Prasanth, Duker, Thapa, Jiteshwor - Rahim, Sliskovic

Both East Bengal FC and Chennaiyin FC will look to get back to winning ways when they meet in an Indian Super League encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Friday.

Even after losing the Kolkata derby in its last outing, EB, which has three points so far, looks at the positives ahead of its home match against the team from south.

“We did not get dominated by one of the best teams in the ISL. When a team formed just six weeks ago dominates a team like that, I think it is a very positive sign. We will try to give the best possible versions of ourselves and hopefully that results in three points”, said EB coach Stephen Constantine.

Constantine was aware of Chennaiyin’s past performance at the same venue, where the tourist beat ATK Mohun Bagan 2-1 less than a month ago.

“Anybody who comes to Kolkata and beats ATK Mohun Bagan deserves respect,” he said.

Chennaiyin, returning to action after a break, will try to leave its last match’s result, a 2-0 loss to FC Goa, behind and inflate its tally of four points.

“Football is very simple – if you cannot score, you cannot win. In the last match, we created a lot of good chances but ended up conceding silly goals. We want to improve in our next match,” said Chennaiyin coach Thomas Brdaric.

“East Bengal is an interesting team, a huge club in India. Playing against this team is a challenge. We’ll try to push and show our strengths,” he added.