Spanish star Pedro Manzi scored his third hat-trick of the season as Chennai City FC scripted an exciting 3-2 win over a fighting Gokulam Kerala FC in the Hero I-League clash at the Nehru Stadium here on Friday.
Manzi, who struck thrice in the team’s earlier clash, was on target yet again. It was a well directed corner kick that the skipper cashed in to shoot the team into the lead in the eighth minute.
But that did not shatter the morale of the visitor. It replied in a fitting fashion ten minutes later through Mudde Musa from Uganda, who belted home a rebound that came his way.
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Full of verve
The teams showed lots of energy on the field and did not hesitate to push forward. The visiting side occasionally played a bit too rough and, with it, picked a couple of yellow cards.
It did not matter much for the team as it was determined to pile on the pressure on the home side. And the latter fell for it for once when Roberto, in a hurry to stop the free-flowing forwards, handled the ball inside the danger area. Nigerian Joel Sunday shook a bit before hammering the penalty kick past the Chennai custodian.
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The battle was so intense that towards the extra time in the first half a rough tackle by a Kerala player led to a minor scuffle between the players and the referee wasted no time in flashing the red card for substitute Pandian (Chennai City) and Arjun Jayaraj (Gokulam).
Down by a goal, the Chennai City men went that extra mile in search of the equaliser in the second half and finally managed it through a beauty of a header from the in-form Manzi in the 59th minute. The skipper scored one more in the 80th minute to help the host romp home. His effort also earned him the ‘Hero-of-the-Match’ award.
The result: Chennai City FC 3 (Pedro Manzi 8, 59, 80) vs Gokulam Kerala FC 2 (Mudde Musa 17, Joel Sunday 38).
At Imphal: Neroca FC 3 (Katsumi Yusa 8, Singham Subash Singh 21, Dohling Aiban 55-OG) bt Shillong Lajong 2 (Sheen 53, Phrangki Buam 89) .