It is not without reason that the great Johan Cruyff once preached: “Playing football is simple but playing ordinary football is difficult. ” Chennaiyin FC (CFC) learned this lesson the hard way in their Indian Super League (ISL) season opener as a momentary lapse of concentration resulted in a 0-1 defeat to Mumbai City FC (MCFC) here on Thursday.

Pritam Kotal was the only player to hit the ball into the right side of the net at the Mumbai Football Arena, but it was his opponent who walked off the field smiling. Unfortunately for the CFC co-captain, he left the door open for MCFC with his goal, on a night when the hosts were struggling to unlock the visitor’s defence. Cotal must have been both hurt and angry at the conclusion of the contest, given that he turned the ball over from a harmless delivery in the 49th minute.

Jonny Kauko got a lucky assist when the CFC centre-back, despite being unchallenged in the area, turned it inside. While CFC threw everything they had to level the scores, MCFC weathered a small storm in the end to start their campaign on the best possible note. Overall, the performances from both teams were nothing short of impressive, and their toughness in the early stages was there for all to see.

Misplaced passes, stop-start action and speculative drives from long range formed the root cause of a goalless first half. In the end, it was a fatal mistake that decided a clash that was starving for attacking quality. Result: Mumbai City FC 1 (Pritam Kotal 49-OG) bt Chennaiyin FC 0.