I-League 2017: Chennai City vs East Bengal, Talking Points
East Bengal continued their winning form against Chennai City FC at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore with a 2-1 win over the hosts. The Kolkata Giants were able to see off some late pressure from Chennai to secure all three points on the night.
Goals from Katsumi Yusa and Charles D'Souza were enough for the Red and Golds on the night to overcome Chennai who tried to pull things back with a goal from Romario Jesuraj towards the end of the first half.
The result meant that East Bengal have now leapfrogged their rivals Mohun Bagan in the league table, securing the second position with a tally of 10 points while Chennai City are languishing at seventh place with just 4 points despite playing more games than the teams below them.
Without further delay, let's have a closer look at the five key talking points from the game:
#1 Poor pitch condition stands out
The poor condition of the playing surface at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore will be a key area of concern for Chennai City and the sides who will be visiting the stadium in the future. The pitch was quite easily the worst we've seen in the I-League so far this season and the authorities will have to address the issue sooner rather than later to avoid further embarrassment.
Chennai City would have loved to play under better conditions in their first home game of the season considering the fact that as many as 13,000 people turned up in Coimbatore to cheer for the home side. However, it was the playing surface that stood out due to its poor condition and the team could do well with a better turf that can boast of grass rather than patches.