France’s Bernard Mendy is a coach’s delight. The 33-year-old is very quick, dribbles well. But most important, he does his main job of defending very well. And therein likes the key to his success.
The former Paris Saint Germain right-back brought the home crowd to its feet again by unleashing a scissor kick to give Chennaiyin FC a 2-1 win over Kerala Blasters in an Indian Super League match at the Nehru Stadium here on Tuesday. This is Chennaiyin FC’s second successive win in the league, after its away victory over Goa FC.
With the match on a razor’s edge at one-goal apiece, Mendy took the veteran goalkeeper David James by surprise with a kick that was incisive and sharp. A free kick by Elano Blumer saw Mendy connect the ball in a manner most certain and skilful to give the home fans the winning goal.
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Chennaiyin started with 3-5-2 and kept up the tempo through some good moves by strikers John Stiven Mendoza and Balwant Singh. Soon, it opened the account off a penalty kick by Elano. Abhishek Das, who was the heartbeat for the host on the right wing proved his worth with precise passes.
A sliding tackle by Gurwinder Singh on Das resulted in the spot kick.
Blasters, too, attacked with energy. Starting with a diamond formation (4-4-2), the visitor got into rhythm midway in the first session and early in the second with several raids. The equaliser emerged with seven minutes into the second session.
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The Canadian striker Iain Hume, who was always threatening with his speed and dribbles, knocked one past the goalkeeper Gennaro Bracigliano from close range off a corner from Spain’s Forcada.
Towards the end of the first half, Mendoza in the right was in the thick of things. First, a wonderful header pass from Elano saw Mendoza take the ball only to be checked by the goalkeeper James. But it was Mendoza who was given the yellow card for simulation. Immediately,
Mendoza’s left foot shot was saved by the goalkeeper.
Blasters, who had the more of the exchanges, tried all they could to score as the match neared the closing stages, but nothing came off them.