Chennai, Feb 15 (Reporter) Chennaiyin FC registered their first home win in five games as they edged past Punjab FC by 2-1 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here in the Indian Super League (ISL) match on Saturday evening. Coming off a morale-boosting win against East Bengal FC, Chennaiyin FC struck first with Wilmar Jordan Gil converting from the spot. Punjab FC retaliated early in the second half with Luka Majcen slotting home the equaliser. However, the hosts left it late when Daniel Chima Chukwu scored the winner in the 84th minute to bag the maximum points. Despite this win, the Marina Machans, with 24 points from 21 games, are seven behind sixth-placed Mumbai City FC, who have 31 points from 20 games. Punjab FC started the game with more momentum in their attacks. The visitors were moving the ball with more intensity in the final third. Asmir Suljic got the first opportunity of the match but his eventual effort was wayward as he failed to keep it in target from close range. A couple of minutes later, Punjab FC had their best opportunity following Chennaiyin FC’s throw-in. Ravi Kumar gathered the ball and found Petros Giakoumakis with a long ball. The Greek forward held the ball up and released Mrzljak through on goal from the right flank. The Croatian had a clear look on goal but his shot was not vicious enough to beat Mohammed Nawaz, who was alert to the danger. However, the missed opportunities came back to bite them when Melroy Assisi handled the ball in the penalty box, awarding a spot-kick for the hosts. Wilmar Jordan Gil stepped up to the spot and hammered it past Ravi in goal to hand Chennaiyin FC the lead in the 19th minute. In the 37th minute, Punjab FC had a decent chance to get back into the game when Ricky Shabong stole possession from Lalrinliana Hnamte in the final third and played it to the Croatian. Mrzljak had a couple of options but he decided to go on his own, though the chance fizzled out as he failed to hit the target. A minute later, Panagiotis Dilmperis decided to take a more attacking approach with a couple of changes as things were not working in his team’s favour. He introduced Muhammad Suhail and Luka Majcen replacing Asish Pradhan and Mrzljak. The latter was also struggling with a knock near his hamstring. Chennaiyin FC had a great chance to double their lead when Wilmar glided a header towards Irfan Yadwad in space and the winger made a surging run into the box. However, his eventual shot was brilliantly kept out by Ravi. Moments later, Punjab FC almost had an opening when Suhail delivered a telling cross across goal but none of his teammates attacked the ball in the box. Just like the first half, Punjab FC started the second half strong with Suhail coming close to scoring. He just missed the target by a whisker. However, Majcen repaid his coach’s faith when he found the equaliser in the 48th minute. It was a brilliant give-and-go between Ezequiel Vidal and Suljic in the penalty box before the Argentine passed it to Majcen, who made no mistake in registering his eighth goal of the campaign. In the 70th minute, Giakoumakis had a brilliant opportunity to put his team ahead in the game when Khaiminthang Lhungdim found the Greek forward in the box. However, Giakoumakis failed to control his header as it flew over the bar. With the game going nowhere, Owen Coyle made three changes as he brought on Lukas Brambilla and Ankit Mukherjee who replaced Ryan Edwards and Hnamte to bolster their attack. He later introduced Daniel Chima Chukwu replacing Wilmar upfront. Punjab FC continued squandering their chances in the final quarter and they were punished when Chukwu handed Chennaiyin FC the lead in the 84th minute. The Nigerian found himself in space and slotted the ball home from Brambilla’s low cross. The two substitutes combined and carved open Punjab FC’s backline with relative ease. In a crucial juncture of the game, Nawaz came up with two big saves in quick succession to keep the lead intact for the hosts. He denied Majcen from close range before tipping away a long-range effort from Vidal. Punjab FC threw bodies forward in the final few minutes but Chennaiyin FC’s backline and Nawaz did enough to secure all three points from the game. Chennaiyin FC will travel to Bengaluru to lock horns with Bengaluru FC on February 25, whereas Punjab FC will host East Bengal FCin New Delhi on February 22...////...