ISL: Mendoza brace guides Chennaiyin FC to 2-0 win over Mumbai City FC

Forward Steven Mendoza scored a brilliant brace to steer visitors Chennaiyin FC to a convincing 2-0 win over hosts Mumbai City FC at the D.Y. Patil Stadium here on Friday.

After the first half went goalless, the Colombian footballer broke the deadlock in the 60th minute, followed by his second in the 66th minute to help his side to their second win of the season.

With this win, Chennaiyin climb to the third spot with two wins and two losses, whereas Mumbai are now struggling at the seventh spot with two losses and a draw from three games.

Playing their first match at home, the Nicolas Anelka-managed side went in with a 4-4-2 formation after a loss and a draw in the previous two matches. On the other hand, the visitors under Marco Materazzi too went with the same formation after a 4-0 victory against FC Goa in the previous encounter.

With just <g data-gr-id="27">few seconds</g> into the first minute of play, Chennaiyin received their first booking when midfielder Thoi Singh stamped on Lalchummawia <g data-gr-id="29">Fanai’s</g> shoes to get a yellow card.

But the sixth minute saw the best chance coming the visitors’ way when Mendoza’s shot on target from more than the 30 yards box was blocked by Mumbai goalkeeper Subrata Paul to only to concede a corner. Elano Blumer who took the corner failed to make an impact as his shot was wide that failed to reach his teammates. 

The home side was not far behind, in the 18th minute of the play Mumbai forward Frederic Piquionne threaded a ball to midfielder Sony Norde who shoots a few inches over the bar to miss a sure chance of going 1-0 up inside 20 minutes.

It was not over yet. <g data-gr-id="25">Norde</g> tried to get through the Chennaiyin defence a couple of times but failed to break the wall as the visitors’ defenders had surely done their homework pretty well.

Both sides tried their best to go ahead but failed to capitalise on the momentum thus ending the first half with score line nil. The start of the second half saw a much more aggressive play and attack from both the sides.