Nerijus Valskis scored his first Chennaiyin FC goal in a 2-2 draw against Odisha FC. However, the stalemate at Tilak Maidan on Wednesday night could prove fatal for both the teams, their finals hopes left dangling by a thread.
Seventh versus eighth in the Indian Super League table, neither Odisha nor Chennaiyin were in the best of form going into their Wednesday night clash at the Tilak Maidan. Odisha had won just one of their previous five games, while Chennaiyin none. It was, then, a battle to keep their respective top-four hopes alive, and, remarkably, neither side came out of it with an advantage.
On paper, it was an evenly contested encounter, with Chennaiyin hoarding slightly more possession than their opponents. The Marina Machans also secured an early advantage when, just two minutes in, Rahim Ali blasted the ball into the roof of the net from close range. Ali was positioned perfectly as the ball broke to him from a Nerijus Valskis attempted free-kick, and he couldn’t miss from two yards out – even if he tried.
Odisha came back into the game through Javi Hernandez’s wonder-goal in the 18th minute. The Spaniard collected the ball two-thirds of the way up the pitch, played a give-and-go with attack partner Jonathas de Jesus, and let an unstoppable curled effort fly into the top corner from outside the box.
The Juggernauts took the lead six minutes after the restart. A minute after having his shot turned around the post by Debjit Majumder, Jonathas slammed the ball home at the back post, capitalizing on Chennaiyin’s inability to clear the danger.
However, Valskis leveled things up again in the 69th minute by heading a cross from Ali past Arshdeep Singh in the Odisha goal. The Lithuanian forward had the opportunity to win the match in the 77th minute after Arshdeep had spilled a routine catch into his path, but, off-balance, he put his shot wide of the post despite the goal being unguarded.
Both sides had to settle for a point in the end, their playoff hopes diminishing with each passing matchday. Odisha must get the better of Bengaluru, ATK Mohun Bagan, and Jamshedpur in their next three games and hope for results to go their way elsewhere to make it into the top four. Chennaiyin, similarly, must beat Jamshedpur, Kerala Blasters, and ATK Mohun Bagan in their remaining three games to have any hopes of qualifying for the finals.
