The 63rd match of the Hero Indian Super League between Chennaiyin FC and SC East Bengal ended in a 0-0 draw at the GMC Stadium on Monday. In fact, Chennaiyin FC had a golden opportunity to claim three points as SC East Bengal were reduced to 10-man after Ajay Chhetri received a second Yellow card in the 30th minute of the game.
Chhetri was booked for the first time when he tried to stop Anirudh Thapa with his hands in the 22nd minute. Chennaiyin FC created a plethora of chances throughout the game but they couldn’t take the lead.
The Marina Machans head coach Csaba Laszlo was disappointed with the performance of his team and stated that his team should have scored after creating so many chances.
“We had control of the game but we were unable to win the game. Even if you are playing against 11 players, we have to win if we want to go after our dreams. Sometimes it’s not easy to play against 10 players. But we have to make the most of the chances. If we don’t score, we don’t win the game. So, I am disappointed with the result,” Laszlo said at the post-match press conference.
Chennaiyin FC couldn’t make the most of their chances as their players squandered their opportunities. But Csaba feels there was no lack of communication between his players as they created chances throughout the game.
“I don’t think there is a lack of communication because the chances are coming. Lallianzuala Chhangte played the ball to Jakub Sylvestr and he hit it into the side-netting. Esmael Goncalves also played a very nice ball to Rahim Ali. All he had to do was lift the ball. We have not played any bad games till now. We controlled the game but we could not win so it is a different story,” he said.
On the other hand, SC East Bengal manager Robbie Fowler was also disappointed with the result as his team gave their all despite being one-man down for one hour.
Chennaiyin FC will next face ATK Mohun Bagan on 21st January at Fatorda Stadium whereas SC East Bengal will take on Mumbai City FC on 22nd January at the Tilak Maidan Stadium.
