Chennaiyin FC head coach Thomas Brdaric was pleased with his team's performance as the Marina Machans won 2-1 against FC Goa in the latest fixture of the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Thursday and said that he was pleased with the will of his team.
In a must-win match for FC Goa, the home team started on the front foot but failed to convert their chances. A 10th-minute penalty from Kwame Karikari gave Chennaiyin FC an early lead in the first half before the Gaurs piled on the pressure on the visitor's goal but Brdaric's side went into the half-time with a solitary goal lead.
The second half started with the Gaurs getting the equaliser in the 49th minute through Noah Sadaoui, the Moroccan scored a brilliant goal assisted by Edu Bedia. Kwame Karikari scored his second penalty of the night and sealed the three points for the Marina Machans.
After registering their sixth win of the season, Chennaiyin FC now has 24 points from 19 matches, however, the side from Chennai is out of the playoffs race. Meanwhile, the Gaurs now sit in sixth place in the ISL points table having played a game more than Odisha FC who have an equal number of points and can push FC Goa out of the top six with a win.
Chennaiyin FC secured their fourth away victory of the season becoming the third-best team on the road behind Mumbai City FC and Hyderabad FC. Brdaric expressed his satisfaction with the result and plauded the team's mindset to hold onto the pressure for the 90 minutes.
"I am very pleased with the will of my team to hold onto the pressure and to inflict defeat on the opponent. To come here and win is tough, we learnt from the past and we won. We are moving forward and we are going to enjoy the win. Of course, there was luck involved, as we survived a couple of times but we deserved the victory. Today luck was on our side but we had a strong mindset for the 90 minutes to secure the win here," Brdaric said in the official post-match press conference as quoted by an ISL press release.
The Marina Machans have won two consecutive matches in a row for the first time this season. Brdaric explained how he aims to win matches all the time and wants to finish the league as close to the playoff spots as possible.
"My aim is to win the matches all the time and grow up with the team. It is different if you finish in the seventh or eighth position. I told my players that I want to finish as close to the playoff spots. This is our objective for the next match as well, to win and to catch points and show everyone that it is worth supporting us," he said.
Things have turned out tricky for FC Goa, being sixth in the points table and facing a motivated Bengaluru FC in the last fixture of the league to secure a top-six finish can be a challenging task. Chennaiyin FC head coach mentioned how Carlos Pena has done a good job with FC Goa and the Gaurs still have an opportunity to make it for the playoffs.
"Nobody can be satisfied when they lose, especially FC Goa. They had to win today and get three points to secure their place in the playoffs. Carlos (Pena) has done a good job in Goa. It's tough to lose here and I know as a coach, that it is very tough. There is still an opportunity for FC Goa to win the next match and make their place in the playoffs. Such matches are difficult to win and we used the momentum in today's match to get three points," Brdaric concluded.
( With inputs from ANI )
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