Chennai City FC (CCFC) went down fighting 0-1 to Al Riffa SC in a preliminary round qualifier to bow out of the AFC Champions League here on Tuesday. Mahdi Abd Al Jabar scored for the Bahraini club in the 41st minute at the Arena Stadium.
With Riffa always on the lookout for goals, CCFC was pushed onto the backfoot at the start. Chennai struggled to create clear-cut chances for most of the first half, with new signing Fito aiming at the post with long-range efforts.
The 12-time Bahraini league champion broke the deadlock in the 41st minute after a good build-up. Habeen Haroun received the ball outside the box and managed to slide in a through-ball into the box for Al Jabar, who did the rest by slotting past the Chennai ’keeper Nauzet Santana.
The second half was livelier than the first, with both teams creating quite a few chances. CCFC came close to equalising when Jishnu Balakrishnan found Syed Suhail Pasha inside the box but the striker failed to convert.
