Indian Super League team Chennaiyin FC cruised to a 4-0 victory over I-League side Real Kashmir FC in its final pre-season friendly at Chennai on Monday.
Romanian winger Dragos Firtulescu scored a goal in each half, with two other foreign signings Andre Schembri and Rafael Crivellaro also getting on the scoresheet.
Dhanpal Ganesh started alongside Afghan midfielder Masih Saighani in midfield, with Thoi Singh and Dragos on the wings, as Brazilian Rafael supported Schembri. CFC began brightly and took the lead just after the opening ten minutes from a delightful Dragos free-kick.
The Romanian, felled just outside the box on the left flank, stepped up himself and curled it into the top corner out of the RKFC keeper’s reach. Chennaiyin added a second in as many minutes, this time Dragos turning provider.
Dhanpal Ganesh won the ball in the middle with a crunching header, finding the new CFC No 10 in space. He looked up and slid in the perfect through ball for Andre Schembri, the Maltese taking a touch before firing it low past the keeper to make it 2-0.
CFC were 3-0 up before the half-hour mark, as RKFC found it difficult to make inroads at the other end. Rafael Crivellaro got into the act, receiving the ball outside the box, waltzing past a couple of defenders before fizzing it into the roof of the net with aplomb.
Real Kashmir did come close with a couple of shots from distance, but that was all they could conjure up in the first half. CFC begins its ISL-6 campaign against FC Goa in Goa on October 23.
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