Owen Coyle: We can play a lot better than what we did in the second half

Chennaiyin FC head coach Owen Coyle expected his team to perform better in certain areas.

Chennaiyin FC squandered a two-goal lead to draw their Indian Super League fixture against Jamshedpur FC by a 2-2 scoreline at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Thursday. Two first-half goals were not enough to secure three points as Owen Coyle’s men allowed the hosts to crawl their way back into the game and salvage a point, courtesy of a 90th-minute goal by Daniel Chima Chukwu.

Owen Coyle, Chennaiyin FC’s head coach, was visibly disappointed with the result. He spoke to the media after the game and suggested that his team’s display in the final third could have been better. 

Here are the excerpts from the post-match press conference with Owen Coyle:

Started well, but lost momentum

Owen Coyle believed that Chennaiyin FC started the game stronger of the two sides. However, as it went on, the Marina Machans lost momentum and were let down by the quality in the final third. “We started really well in the game. We looked dangerous going forward. We were very comfortable after getting the second goal, however, the final pass let us down a little bit,” he said indicating that his team could have scored more goals.

“We can play a lot better than what we did in the second half,” he added suggesting that there were chances to end the game before Jamshedpur FC equalised. 

Were put under pressure

The tactician admits that Jamshedpur FC played well in the second half and put Chennaiyin FC under immense pressure. While the Men of Steel were determined to come back into the match, Chennaiyin FC had chances on the counter to put the game to bed.  

“Jamshedpur FC put us under a lot of pressure in the second half but we still looked dangerous on the counter-attack. But probably our quality of passing should have been better,” the head coach concluded.

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