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In what was one of their most dominant performances of the season, an injury time goal by Shane McFaul rescued a point for DSK Shivajians against Chennai City FC in what was their fifth consecutive away game of the season. Chennai City FC had opened the scoring through a Haroon Amiri header in the 41st minute.
Having traversed the length and breadth of the country, a visibly fatigued DSK Shivajians side started off aggressively, winning two corners in the first two minutes of the game. Boasting of as many as four U22 players, and two debutants in their starting line, DSK Shivajians were unwavering in their style of play, sticking to a possession based passing game, which came in stark contrast to their opponents who were content pumping in long balls for most of the game.
While DSK Shivajians made most of the running in the first 10 minutes, Brazilian Charles De Souza would prove to be a constant thorn in young Sairuatkima’s side, with his physical prowess causing the young Mizo lad problems on occasion. While this defensive duel would develop later on in the game, it was Nirmal Chettri who took it upon himself to put his body, mind and soul on the line, picking up two head injuries as well as one to his leg, being knocked out cold on one occasion. He did however, go on to complete the ninety minutes. Patient in possession, DSK Shivajians had a barrage of chances on the Chennai City FC goal, with the best chance of the half coming to Lallianzuala Chhangte who wasn’t able to control a great cross by debutant Ricky Lallawmama. The 32nd minute saw another great dribble by Lallianzuala, where he cut past three attackers, only to find no one on the end of his final ball. At the other end of the pitch, some Samba Magic saw Charles De Souza beat the DSK Shivajians defence, but the Brazilian completely skewed his attempt with the ball ending up closer to the corner flag. Sustained pressure by the Away team did see another chance with Lalthathanga Khawlring take a shot off a Seityasen Singh cross, with Juan Quero’s follow up snatched by Karanjit Singh. This would however, prove irrelevant as the Home side won a corner on the 40th minute, quite against the run of play. Former DSK Shivajians player Haroon Amiri found himself completely unmarked in the box, to head the ball into the net giving Chennai City the lead just before half time. With an immediate response, Chhangte cut past four players with a run beginning at the Halfway mark but was unable to find the finishing touch. Chennai City went in ahead at the Halfway mark.
The second half started off with a few Chennai City attacks, which were absorbed by the DSK Shivajians backline. Following this, it was shot after shot after shot on the Chennai City FC goal by DSK Shivajians with the creator in chief Juan Quero combining with virtually every other player in midfield and attack to find spaces in defence. Chances for Sanju and Lallianzuala were frequent, but three chances in a minute on the 70th minute were what really rattled the Chennai City defence. With few chances in the entire game, Soosairaj almost doubled the Home side’s lead beating Nirmal Chettri with some brilliant footwork to see his shot go high and wide. Chennai City’s last chance of the game came in the 80th minute where a brilliant Charles De Souza attempt was matched by a similarly good save by custodian Subrata Paul. With the half plagued by injuries and stoppages, the referee signalled for eight minutes of stoppage time at the end of the regulation ninety minutes. These did however prove to be the most important of the game as it was on the 92nd minute that Shane McFaul equalised for the Away Team, breaking Chennai City hearts. Playing up top towards the end of the game, the Irishman took the ball down, turned his marker and calmly slotted the ball into the low bottom corner. In the ascendancy for much of the game, DSK Shivajians looked good for the winner with a few chances falling, but Karanjit produced some brilliant saves to keep his side in the game. At the end of the 90 minutes, it ended all square for the two sides. The feeling was, however, that it was a game of missed chances for DSK Shivajians.
Speaking on the game, DSK Shivajians First Team Manager Dave Rogers said, “I’m happy and a bit frustrated as I’ve never seen such a one sided game in all my life. I’d be disappointed if we didn’t create chances, but we’re creating so many chances. For me, these boys epitomise what I see on a daily basis. They’re hungry, they’re honest, they’ve got great team spirit and they are fantastic footballers.”
“I hope you guys start taking notice of the future of Indian football now, because in my squad there were nine U22 players, and six are actually U19. We finished the game with seven of them on the field. For me, that’s success alone. At least I know, the future is bright,” he signed off.
DSK Shivajians FC currently sit seventh in the I-League with 11 points from 11 games. The team will next play Aizawl FC in Pune on March 7.
