Chennai: Marquee player Ryan Giggs played a stellar role as Mumbai 5’s overpowered Chennai 5’s 4-2 in the first ever Premier Futsal game here on Friday.
Giggs led by example as they put together a solid defense and gave Chennai a master-class on counter-attack.
Giggs took the charge against the ‘Pele of Futsal’, Falcao, and came out on top to claim the first game of the inaugural tournament.
Giggs has been with Manchester United for almost three decades playing football, but on Friday was his debut on the futsal pitch. Mumbai 5’s strike force had the firepower of Giggs and Foglia who won the ‘Best Futsal Player’ award in 2003.
Mumbai opened the scoring after they won a penalty. Sirilo’s handball allowed Foglia to step up and score a calm penalty sending the keeper the wrong way. In the first quarter, Chennai had the bulk of the chances but couldn’t back their flair play with accurate finishing.
The second quarter started badly for Chennai going two goals down quickly. Mumbai robbed Chennai of possession and Angellot showed brilliant piece of ball control to leave the keeper on the floor and blasted the ball into open net to claim Mumbai 5’s third goal.
Chennai kept possession but Mumbai’s solid defence ensured they remained a step ahead in the second quarter. Mumbai were employing the classic counter tactic, breaking every time Chennai lost the ball. Falcao continued to display his full array of tricks but Mumbai kept hold of their 2-0 lead at half time.
It takes a minute for the course of the game to change in futsal, and Chennai almost got a goal back as Sirilo’s shot stung the bar and went out of play. At the end of the of the final whistle, Mumbai took home the first three points of Premier Futsal. (PTI)
