Chennai City FC played an attacking game right through but Churchill Brothers stood strong to earn a well-deserving 2-2 draw in the Hero I-League clash at the Nehru Stadium here on Thursday.
At the start, the heavens threatened to open up but it had to wait as the crowd had come in good number to see the men in Orange from Chennai in full flow. And, they were off to a flier with a spectacular effort from Nestor Gordillo in the ninth minute.
The winger from Spain picked up a pass from countrymate Pedro Manzi, the team’s leading scorer, and whistled his way merrily past a couple of defenders before firing in a thundering left-footer that beat James Kithan, the Churchill custodian, hands down.
It was good enough for CCFC to further apply the pressure. And, it did in great measure with repeated attacks at the goal but, the Red Machines handled it all with aplomb.
The Goan side played better in the second-half. They created the chances, attacked with vigour and restored parity in the 51st minute through Nenad Novakovic, who steered home an Israil Gurung corner.
To make matters worse, Israil slotted the second in the 58th minute much to the disappointment of the crowd.
The battle turned intense from there. CCFC pressed hard for the equaliser and finally found a saviour in Sandro Rodriguez of Spain, who shot home in the 62nd minute to bring the crowd alive and, with it, help the team salvage a draw.
Akbar Nawas, CCFC’s coach, was pleased with the result. “It was a fair draw and I must give credit to my players, especially the local boys, for fighting back from that situation.”
The result:
CCFC 2 (Nestor Gordillo 9, Sandro Rodriguez 62) drew with Churchill Brothers 2 (Nenand Novakovic 51, Israil Gurung 58).