Football
Abilash Nalapat 9y

Nicolas Anelka makes disappointing debut in ISL for Mumbai City FC

Former France, Arsenal and Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka made a forgettable return to competitive football after a 10-month absence as his Indian Super League (ISL) franchise Mumbai City FC were thrashed 5-1 at Chennayin FC.

The 35-year-old discovered that the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the Indian city of Chennai is a world away from the English Premier League where he spent the majority of his career. 

Anelka was playing his first match for ISL franchise Mumbai City FC since being banned in February by the Football Association (FA) for a racially-provocative gesture while celebrating his goal for West Bromwich Albion. He played all 90 minutes on Tuesday night, but was largely ineffective for Peter Reid's Mumbai side.

Rewind to January 2010 and Anelka returned to Premier League action in emphatic fashion following a hamstring injury when he scored two goals in Chelsea's 7-2 victory over Sunderland. The wheel has indeed turned full circle for the controversial and much-travelled member of Les Blues' Euro 2000 winning squad.

Former Sunderland manager Reid's visitors were looking forward to having Anelka back because one of their other star imports, Fredrik Ljungberg, is injured. However, the script went horribly wrong for Mumbai City FC as they were swept away by some South American magic.

Two goals each by former Brazil and Manchester City midfielder Elano -- who is the tournament top scorer with five goals -- and Colombian striker John Stieven Mendoza powered Chennaiyin FC to an easy victory.

Indian striker Jeje Lalpekhlua, who plays for Mohun Bagan in the I-League, also scored for the hosts. They moved to second spot in the standings, two points behind leaders Atletico de Kolkata but with a game in hand.

Making the evening even more special for Chennaiyin FC was the support they received from the stands from franchise co-owner and Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

In addition to Anelka's return to competitive football and Elano's man-of-the-match performance, another talking point was the home team's centre-back pairing of Italy's 2006 World Cup winning defender Marco Materazzi and former France and Manchester United full-back Mikael Silvestre. Materazzi, who is the player-manager of Chennayin FC, decided to don the boots for the first time in the competition to thwart the Mumbai FC attack led by Anelka.

Mumbai City FC, whose only goal was a late consolation scored from a set-piece by captain Syed Rahim Nabi, had a lot of possession. But they failed to create many chances. But Anelka was at the centre of one good move when he put teammate and Indian midfielder Subhash Singh through on goal before Chennaiyin FC goalkeeper Shilton Paul made a fine save.

Mumbai FC have only three points from their four matches and their next outing is on Nov. 2 when they host Kerala Blasters FC.

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