Chennaiyin FC and Mumbai City FC clashed in a Hero Indian Super League (ISL)  game at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai today with the hope to claim three vital points.

Mumbai City FC fielded Nicolas Anelka for the very first time as the French star striker returned to action after an international suspension which forced him to miss the first few matches in the Hero Indian Super League. Chennaiyin FC player-cum-coach Marco Materazzi started the match to make his debut in the league as well.

But it was Chennaiyin FC who took an early lead when John Stiven Mendoza was brought down in the box and the hosts were awarded a penalty. Brazilian star Elano converted the penalty kick as Mumbai City FC goalkeeper Subrata Pal had not luck to his favour.

Subrata Pal denied Chennaiyin another goal minutes later with a superb save, but he had no chance at all in the 22nd minute when Jeje Lalpekhlua slotted home to make it 2-0 for the home side. Elano set-up Jeje with a brilliant ball and the Indian international fired a well-taken volley past Subrata into the back of the net.

Chennaiyin FC increased their lead after a fatal goalkeeping blunder by Subrata Pal. Elano curled a trademark free kick on target just to see Subrata failing to clear the shot and John Stiven Mendoza taking advantage of the situation.

Mendoza struck another goal moments later with a fine chip over Subrata to give Mumbai City coach Peter Reid major headaches before the half-time whistle.

Misery continued for Mumbai City in the second half despite a few promising dead ball siuations. But it was once again Elano for Chennaiyin FC who hit the target with one of his perfect free kicks in the 69th minute.

Syed Rahim Nabi scored a consolation goal for Mumbai City FC in the 87th minute in a match which Chennaiyin FC won 5-1 in front of their home crowd in Chennai.

2014 Hero Indian Super League
at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai

CHENNAIYIN FC 5-1 MUMBAI CITY FC

GOALS
1-0 Elano (9′)
2-0 Jeje Lalpekhlua (22′)
3-0 John Stiven Mendoza (40′)
4-0 John Stiven Mendoza (44′)
5-0 Elano (69′)
5-1 Syed Rahim Nabi (87′)

LINE-UPS

Chennaiyin FC
22 Shilton Paul – 2 Jairo Suárez (77′ 25 Dhanachandra Singh), 19 Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, 23 Marco Materazzi (58′ 10 Bojan Djordjic), 27 Mikaël Silvestre, 5 Bernard Mendy [C] – 7 Elano, 18 Harmanjot Singh Khabra, 13 Denson Devadas – 14 John Stiven Mendoza (74′ 8 Cristian Hidalgo), 12 Jeje Lalpekhlua

Unused Subs
21 Abhijit Mondal – 3 Sukhwinder Singh, 4 Khelemba Singh, 16 Jayesh Rane, 20 Bruno Pelissari

Mumbai City FC
1 Subrata Pal – 16 Peter Costa, 3 Raju Eknath Gaikwad, 5 Manuel Friedrich [C], 19 Syed Rahim Nabi – 2 Johan Letzelter, 6 Jan Stohanzl (84′ 14 Nadong Bhutia) – 12 Singam Subash Singh, 21 André Francisco Moritz, 20 Lalrindika Ralte (46′ 4 Tiago Ribeiro) – 39 Nicolas Anelka

Unused Subs
31 Ishan Debnath, 41 André Preto – 10 Diego Fernando Nadaya, 13 Ram Malik, 17 Deepak Kumar Mondal, 18 Sushil Kumar Singh, 23 Lalrinfela, 26 Ilias Pollais

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee
…

Assistant Referees
…, …

Fourth Official
…

BOOKINGS

Yellow Cards
51′ Johan Letzelter (Mumbai City FC)
55′ Harmanjot Singh Khabra (Chennaiyin FC)
77′ Bojan Djordjic (Chennaiyin FC)

Yellow-Red Cards
none

Red Cards
none

MAN OF THE MATCH

Elano (Chennaiyin FC)