Chennai City FC beat Southern Railway 4-1 in the CFA senior division league at the Nehru Stadium on Thursday. The winning side is now tied at the second spot with Chennai FC and Viva Chennai, with 15 points, as the title race heats up.
Chennai City scored two goals in the first 15 minutes; A. Beautin put Morgan Justice’s ball from the left-in, in the 9th minute. Three minutes later, Morgan himself scored off a penalty after Railways’ defender Pradeep handballed in the box.
Railway’s C. Sirajudeen came up with a most rousing attempt; he sent P.C. Riju’s pass curling in from the left wing — the ball was adrift to the right-end of the post to curl straight as it loomed on the goalkeeper who hovered to his left to block. The ball hit the inside of the right-post and popped out. He made another threat of a move when he picked R. Rajesh’s pass and crossed it from the left which the Chennai defence did well to keep out.
Samuel Jackson added to Chennai City’s lead in the 41st minute. Inches from the right edge of the box, he received a pass, stopped abruptly with three defenders ahead, and came up with a measured chip that rose to dip in time — after it eluded the stretching goalkeeper — and fell into the net. Chennai City went into the break 3-0.
Both teams scored a goal each in the second-half. Rajesh scored Railways’ lone goal after Sirajudeen’s corner-kick from the left corner was picked and directed to him in the 53rd minute.
The results: Senior division: Chennai City FC 4 (Beautin 9, Morgan Justice 13, Samuel Jackson 41, O.I. Joseph 93) bt Southern Railway 1 (Rajesh 53). I division: YMSC 4 (Gerald 15, 51, Murugan 30, Ilavarasan 40) bt Tamilnadu Police 0.
