After a stunning late victory over Kerala Blasters in our 2019/20 Hero ISL season opener courtesy of Amine Chermiti’s debut goal and a mind-boggling save at the death by Amrinder Singh, the Islanders are on the road for a second game running.
Mumbai City FC are in league action tomorrow for the second time in 72 hours and will take on two-time champions Chennaiyin FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here in Chennai at 7.30pm.
The Islanders come in to their second game of the campaign high on confidence after a largely dominating performance in Kochi but will have a new challenge in the form of John Gregory’s new-look Chennayin outfit.
With a second consecutive away game for Jorge Costa’s boys, the target is simple – to pick up where we left off in Kochi. While the Islanders have a few headaches of their own in terms of the fitness of some key players, getting the three points in Chennai will be paramount before the side make their bow at the Arena for the first time in the 2019/20 season next week.
Focus: Chennaiyin FC
Chennaiyin FC’s 2018/19 league campaign could be termed as cataclysmic, finishing 10th after having come in as defending champions. It was a surprising move when the Marina Machans decided to stick with their English head coach John Gregory having previously announced that he will leave at the end of last season.
The CFC squad underwent a considerable revamp over the summer, with the club retaining just one foreign player in Eli Sabia but have ensured continuity with their Indian contingent. Despite that, tomorrow’s home side’s fortunes didn’t seem to have changed after they went down 3-0 to FC Goa in their season opener.
For the Islanders, there is a reunion of sorts on the cards when they take to the pitch tomorrow at the JLN. Romanian defender Lucian Goian, who was a requisite cog in the Islanders’ set up for the last three seasons, will be up against his former side in Chennaiyin colours. Goian, who has been given the armband this season by coach Gregory, will certainly aim to lead his side to a first win of the season in this beguiling rendezvous and get one up on his previous club in the process.
Team News:
The Islanders have confirmed their squad for their trip to Chennai. Jorge Costa has confirmed that defender Mato Grgic, who was forced off in Kochi with an injury, will miss the action tomorrow. However the boss still remains undecided on the availability of another casualty from the game against KBFC, Paulo Machado.
John Gregory confirms that Jeje remains the only injury at the Marina Machans. The Englishman, while talking to the media, also confirmed that Germanpreet Singh has been given a leave of absence for personal reasons.
Where to watch it:
The game will kick off at 7.30pm IST and will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network, Hotstar and Jio TV for all viewers in India. For our global fans, you can follow all the action LIVE on our official Twitter account - @MumbaiCityFC.
League Watch
Results:
23 Oct: FC Goa 3-0 Chennaiyin FC (Len 30’, Coro 62’, Pena 81’)
24 Oct: Kerala Blasters 0-1 Mumbai City FC (Chermiti 82’)
25 Oct: ATK 5-0 Hyderabad FC (Williams 25’, 44’, Krishna 28’, Garcia 88’, 90’)
Fixtures coming up:
26 Oct: NorthEast United FC vs Odisha FC (Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati 7.30pm)
27 Oct: Chennaiyin FC vs Mumbai City FC (Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai 7.30pm)
28 Oct: FC Goa vs Bengaluru FC (Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Goa 7.30pm)
