Succi strikes late to help Chennaiyin pull off draw

Chennaiyin’s chance to score came in the 11th minute when a cross from Raphael Augusto was deftly directed by Hans Mulder to the nets, only to be deflected over by the goalkeeper Debjit Majumdar. The hosts suffered an early shock when a pulled hamstring forced the in-form striker Jeje Lalpekhlua to go off the field. The visitors broke through Chennaiyin’s defence, six minutes before halftime, when the cross from Pritam Kotal found Helder Postiga, who deftly directed a header to the right, past goalkeeper Karanjit Singh to give Atletico the lead. Chennaiyin started off the second half on a stronger note. Atletico began with a substitution of Lalrindika Ralte with Bidyananda Singh. The visitors suffered a blow when Sereno pulled a hamstring in the 53rd minute and had to be substituted by Kinshuk Debnath. Chennaiyin missed opportunities to score, as Succi who got into the box failed to connect with the ball, hitting it wide. In a desperate attempt to equalize, Chennaiyin brought in striker Dudu Omagbemi for mid-fielder Mulder in the 67th minute. Atletico, in a bid to hold on to their lead, brought in midfielder Ofentse Nato for their star striker Postiga. However, the hosts bounced back in the 77th minute, when Succi’s persistence finally saw him heading the ball into the back of the net.