Chennaiyin FC vs Rainbow Athletic Club – Match Report

We continued our pre-season preparations by taking on Calcutta Premier Division side, Rainbow Athletic Club. A brace from Farukh helped the Marina Machans to a 6-0 victory as Irfan, Rahim, Jiteshwor and Jordan also got on the scoresheet.

Coach Raman Vijayan made four changes to the side that won 4-0 against KSLA last week with Samik, Ajith, Bikash and Rahim coming in for Devansh, Ankit, Sajid and Irfan. Ninthoi and Jordan were also named on the bench.

The game started out on a neutral note before Farukh was brought down at the edge of the box in the 9th minute. Farukh curled in the subsequent free kick off the crossbar to break the deadlock. The next 25 minutes saw the Marina Machans hold possession for most of the time but weren’t able to create too many chances before the first set of substitutions were made. Ankit, Sajal and Irfan came on for Ajith, Rafique and Farukh. The latter two made an instant impact as they combined to double the lead. Sajal picked up the ball in midfield and played a through ball to Irfan who took on his man, cut on to his left foot and slotted it past the keeper.

The second half started with Jordan coming on for Romario. Three minutes later, Jordan took a shot which deflected off Irfan. Rahim was first to the loose ball who smashed it into the roof of the net with his left boot to get the third.

In the 59th minute, Sajid and Sachu came on for Bikash and Aakash. Two minutes later, Irfan released Sachu on the left flank who unleashed a low cross that beat the keeper and found Jiteshwor whose late run into the box allowed him to slot in our fourth on the day. In the 64th minute, Sweden stood over a free kick on the right wing before swinging in a curler destined for the top right corner. The keeper palmed the ball onto the post with an outstretched right hand, before it rebounded and fell to Jordan who slotted in our fifth goal into an empty net.

In the 66th minute Devansh donned the keeper’s gloves as Farukh came back on for Rahim. Seven minutes later the ball was cleared from the box from a corner and it fell to Farukh whose first-time half volley crashed into the back of the net for the sixth goal.

In stoppage time the opposition received a penalty for being fouled in the box. However, Devansh got down low to his left and pushed the ball out to ensure that the boys earned a clean sheet on the night.

Chennaiyin FC Lineups vs Rainbow Athletic Club

Starting XI: Samik Mitra (GK), Ajith Kumar, Bijay Chhetri, Bikash Yumnam, Aakash Sangwan, Mohammed Rafique, Jiteshwor Singh, Farukh Choudhary, Sweden Fernandes, Alexander Romario, Rahim Ali (C)

Subs: Devansh Dabas (GK), Prateek Singh (GK), Ankit Mukherjee, Sajid Dhot, Sachu Siby, Sajal Bag, Ninthoi Meetei, Jordan Murray, Irfan Yadwad