ISL: Chennaiyin FC add to FC Pune City's problems

PUNE: Four second-half goals in the span of 18 minutes saw defending champions Chennaiyin FC break FC Pune City’s hearts with a 4-2 win in an Indian Super League clash at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex on Tuesday.
It was Chennaiyin’s first win out of seven games this season while the hosts are still winless after six outings. After the Stallions took the lead in the ninth minute, the visitors bounced back in the second half through strikes from Mailson Alves, Gregory Nelson, Inigo Calderon and Thoi Singh.
The result also extended Chennaiyin’s record against Pune to seven wins.As if to add insult to injury, Pune City had their talismanic striker Marcelinho sent off in stoppage time, the Brazilian receiving a red card for landing his spikes on Germanpreet Singh.
In the the first half, Chennaiyin right-back Calderon was troubled by young Ashique Kuruniyan’s presence, the latter made the most of the high defensive line deployed by John Gregory to give Pune the break.
Robin Singh produced a magical cross-field lofted pass to Kuruniyan, who slotted it in from a tight angle through the legs of Karanjit Singh.
The early goal fed the confidence of the Stallions and demoralised Chennaiyin, whose response was underwhelming throughout the first half.
But Gregory’s players came out a much better team after the break. They had more intent and ambition to turn things around. It reflected in their equaliser that came in the 54th minute through skipper Alves, who rose to meet a perfect free-kick from Anirudh Thapa and headed it to the back of the net.
Two minutes later, Alves found Nelson behind the Pune defense and the Dutchman chipped the ball over an on-rushing Kamaljit Singh to make it 2-1. It was not as if the game was over but the hosts were getting jittery.
Instead of picking themselves up, Pune began to disintegrate and Chennai were ruthless. Calderon showed good reflex to produce a overhead kick from six yards after a deflection from Raphael Augusto following Thapa’s corner kick.
It was 3-1and the result was beyond doubt now. As the home fans started to head towards the exit, Chennaiyin scored again in the 72nd minute. After Kamaljit blocked a shot from Jeje Lalpekhlua, Thoi Singh fired in the loose ball. Jonathan Vila gave the hosts' a consolation goal in the 90th minute, only for Marcelinho to wipe out any sense of positivity for Pune by lunging into Germanpreet Singh a couple of minutes later.