A buoyant Chennaiyin FC will host a wounded FC Goa in a late evening Indian Super League (ISL) clash here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday.
Chennaiyin is seemingly on the right track under Owen Coyle, with even his counterpart Manolo Marquez predicting the two-time champion to improve on its last season’s showing. For Chennaiyin to do that, it needs to get the better of Goa, which beat Chennaiyin in all its three meetings, including the playoffs, last campaign.
Chennaiyin has also never beaten Goa at home in a league meeting since 2016 – a run of five straight defeats – and a rare victory here could bring Coyle’s men up to fourth in the points table while piling further misery on Marquez and the visitors.
Goa has just five points in as many games and another defeat here will add more pressure on Marquez. Lamenting his team’s inconsistency so far, he added “We have been up and down, so that’s been difficult. One word I speak about a lot is ‘consistency’. We need to have it. It’s not about winning every game 4-3, 3-2, 5-4. We need to be consistent as a team.”
The team has failed to keep a clean sheet in five matches, conceding 10 goals. The recent defeat to Mumbai City FC at home, where it conceded two soft goals in the first half, has been a recurring pattern.
Goa has just five points in as many games and another defeat here will add more pressure on Marquez. | Photo Credit: Focus Sports
“The mistakes we make are penalising us more than in previous years. We have to have the goal of keeping a clean sheet and after that, we will see,” said skipper Odei Onaindia, who gave away two penalties this season.
ALSO READ | Manolo Marquez calls ISL scheduling ‘complete disaster’, says it doesn’t care about National team
Sandesh Jhingan is still not ready to make a competitive start before the international break and goalkeeper Lara Sharma is nearing full fitness. Marquez confirmed attacking midfielder Mohammed Yasir could be involved at Chennaiyin.
Despite Goa’s sub-par start, it still possesses attacking quality and individual players who could hurt Chennaiyin. The attack, consisting of Armando Sadiku, Borja Herrera and Dejan Drazic, has shown it can score goals to challenge the best, but the team hasn’t defended well together. However, Sadiku, who has scored five, offers little outside his goals, while Drazic could complement Herrera in the front four.
Coyle’s team has sported a settled look so far but will have two key absentees against Goa – fullbacks Ankit Mukherjee and Laldinliana Renthlei – forcing a rejig to the backline.
Right-back Renthlei, who was sent off during the win over NorthEast United (NEUFC), has been integral to Chennaiyin in both attack and defence, while left-back Mukherjee suffered a knock to his knee, which could keep him out of action for close to six weeks. With Ankit on the mend, it opens the door for Vignesh Dakshinamurthy and the experienced Mandar Rao Dessai to challenge for the left-back berth.
Chennaiyin showed its effectiveness in set-pieces against NEUFC, with Wilmar Jordan Gill and Ryan Edwards proving to be a handful inside the penalty box. Midfielder Connor Shields has been the heart of this side with his relentless energy in his box-to-box runs. His crossing from set-pieces and the right side channels will keep the Goan defence on their toes.
Coyle hoped for better efficiency in front of goal. Against NEUFC, Irfan Yadwad got himself into excellent goal-scoring opportunities but fluffed them, yet the team got away with the three points.
“We had nearly 40 goal-scoring chances (in the loss to Mohammedan SC and the draw away to Hyderabad FC) in two games, but we didn’t finish them due to good goalkeeping and sometimes bad finishing. So that’s something we need to focus on each day and get better at it,” said the Scotsman.
Chennaiyin vs Goa clashes usually serve up thrilling, end-to-end encounters and with both teams chasing victories, this face-off could be along similar lines.
Comments
SHARE