Mohammedan SC head coach Andrey Chernyshov has revealed how he motivated his players during half-time after a 2-2 draw against Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Wednesday.
- C. Laldinpuia scored in the 10th minute of the game whereas Lukas Brambilla doubled the lead for Owen Coyle’s team in the 49th minute.
However, Manvir Singh scored in the 95th minute while Lalremsanga Fanai scored from a spot kick in the stoppage time to help his team share a point.
“We understand that we played against a physically strong team. They are really strong, and they run too much during the match. They have players who can give good crosses and who can give a good ball from set pieces. We were ready for that. We started very well because we had our plan; we knew how to play against them,” Chernyshov said in the post-match press conference.
“But again, they did this so well in the set pieces, and we conceded the goal. We could have come back with a penalty, but we did not score. But we controlled the match; we had a chance to score, but the first half was like that,” he continued.
The Russian revealed how his pep talk during the halftime break helped his team turn a corner.
Chernyshov revealed “We spoke very well after the first half in the dressing room. We told the players, ‘Please believe we can change the match; we can score.’ They came like that, but again, it was an easy mistake, and it was 0-2. But we believed we played very well. These players are really very strong; I am so happy to work with them. I can only tell them thank you very much for fighting for this match.”
“I also spoke with my assistants; we brought in some new players for the last minutes, and they made this result. They fought until the last minute, and they deserved this point; this is really nice,” he further added.
Mohammedan SC will next take on Mumbai City FC at the Mumbai Football Arena on Mumbai on January 26th.
