Chirag United Kerala succumbed to its third consecutive defeat in the I-league as it lost the fourth round match to Air India 2-1 at the University stadium on Sunday.
Chirag's lack of firepower inside the striking zone was to hurt the team in this match also as it made a mess of at least three clear chances and numerous half-chances to lose a match it should have won by a fair margin.
Air India was lucky to get full points from the match in which it was at times outplayed by the opposition. The visitor converted two of the few chances it got in the entire match to notch its second win in the league.
Sluggish defence
Both the Air India goals came against the run of play and Chirag's defence was surprisingly sluggish. It fell at the first sign of danger.
The defence failed to clear away a speculative long ball from the middle and ball came to Sandesh Gadkari who was sandwiched between the goalkeeper and defender Issac Boakye. The goalkeeper missed the high ball and Issac was forced to bring down Sandesh which resulted in the penalty in the 44th minute.
Amandeep Singh had no difficulty in beating Arindam Ghosh under the bar.
Chirag started with a flourish with the midfield supplying Shabas Saleel who repeatedly broke free on the left flank to arrow in passes to his forwards. It had the first look at the goal in the 13th minute when Noushad broke free and his through pass was muffed by Vineeth who was a bit late in reacting. In the 33rd minute Vigneesh moved up from the right flank but his solo effort ended with a tame shot straight to goalkeeper Pawan Kumar. Three minutes later, Australian Michael Matricciani tested Pawan with a low shot
Air India survived the onslaught and went ahead much to the chagrin of the crowd. The visitor increased the lead in the 53rd minute following a fast counter-attack.
A long clearance by the Air India defence saw the ball reach Sandesh, who made his way into the box and beat the goalkeeper with a right footer.
Chirag pulled one back in the 78th minute when Vineeth gave finishing touches to a fine cross from Shabas Saleel on the left flank.
