Chennaiyin FC came up with a spectacular second half performance to stun home favourite Mohun Bagan SG 3-2 in matchweek-20 fixture of the ISL-10 at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Sunday.
Joni Kauko gave Mohun Bagan the lead in the first half, but Chennaiyin turned the match on its head after the break. Jordan Murray and Ryan Edwards found the net in a span of eight minutes.
Mohun Bagan neutralised Chennaiyin’s lead off a penalty conversion by Dimitri Petratos three minutes into injury-time. However, substitute Irfan Yadwad ensured that Chennaiyin bagged the full quota of points by producing the winner off a counter-attack towards the end of injury time.
The win took Chennaiyin to 21 points from 19 matches and ninth in the standings. Mohun Bagan’s league shield hopes suffered a big blow as it missed the chance to go top and remained in second behind Mumbai City FC.
Mohun Bagan took control of the proceedings right from the start and probed the Chennaiyin defence regularly. Mohun Bagan finally took the lead in the 29th minued when its unmarked Finnish international Joni Kauko latched on to a Liston Colaco cross in front of goal.
Mohun Bagan made the error of seeing Chennaiyin as a lesser opponent after the break and tried to preserve the one-goal lead. Chennaiyin grabbed the initiative and found the equaliser off a Murray solo effort in the 72nd minute.
Edwards found the lead off a corner in the 80th minute, before Petratos levelled it for the hosts. Just when it looked like Mohun Bagan had collected a point, Yadwad finished a fine counter-attack to secure the win for Chennaiyin.
The result: Mohun Bagan SG 2 (Kauko 29, Petratos 90+3 pen) lost to Chennaiyin FC 3 (Murray 72, Edwards 80, Yadwad 90+7).
