Debutants Sudeva Delhi FC grabbed their second win of the I-League to enter the top half of the Hero I-League table with eight points, as the Chencho Dorji-coached side defeated Chennai City FC 4-0 at the VYBK Stadium in Kolkata, West Bengal today (February 03, 2021).

Naocha Singh’s quick-fire brace in the first ten minutes of the match and strikes by Mahesh Singh and Manvir Singh in the second half proved to be enough for the Delhi-based side as they registered a comfortable win over Chennai City FC. With this loss, Chennai City FC finds themselves in the bottom half of the table with only six points out of five matches.

Sudeva Delhi FC got off to a dream start and found the net twice in the first ten minutes of the match. First, in the 6th minute, Naocha Singh tapped home from inside of the box after he was found by a brilliant Naorem Mahesh cross that completely bamboozled the opposition defence before falling to the forward.

Four minutes later, Sudeva’s high pressing style of play reaped dividends. Kean Lewis stole possession high up the field and put Naocha Singh onto goal. From a tight angle, the forward produced a sublime finish to put Sudeva two goals up.

The quick-fire brace by Naocha seemed to suck the life out of Chennai City FC. The Satyasagara-coached side rarely made chances and were playing catch-up for much of the half, losing balls easily in the midfield and failing to retrieve second balls.

Meanwhile, a spurred Sudeva side went in for the kill and hunted for their third goal of the match. In the 23rd minute, Kean Lewis missed a clean chance after a Mahesh Singh header found him clear on the far post, from a long throw-in. With the empty net waiting to receive Lewis’ shot, the midfielder hit the post as the ball went back into play.

Although Chennai City FC survived the scare of going three down before half-time, their defence, time and again, was being penetrated with ease by Sudeva’s one-touch style of play. However in the 34th minute, much against the run of play, a long ball found Syed Pasha inside the Sudeva box. The forward whizzed past his defending man but could only shoot the ball wide from a tight angle. The half-time scoreline read 2-0 in Sudeva’s favour.

Two quickly became three for Sudeva after the break as in the 51st minute, Naorem Mahesh Singh ran towards the Chennai City FC goal, after dancing past two defenders, beating them with sheer pace. The forward coolly slotted the ball home with his left foot

Shortly after, Manvir again had a chance to put Sudeva four goals ahead but this time too, the forward failed to score with only the opposition goalkeeper to beat. However, he finally found the net in the 71st minute when his curling shot from close range went past the opposition custodian to extend Sudeva’s lead to four goals.