Owen Coyle: It wasn’t easy to do it against the team which finished no.1

The Chennaiyin FC boss also revealed his happiness with the performance of the domestic players.

Chennaiyin FC survived a late scare to prevail into the ISL final, despite losing 4-2 to FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday. After the Gaurs had raced into a two-goal lead within the first 25 minutes thanks to an own goal from Lucian Goain and Mourtada Fall’s strike, the Marina Machans bit back in the second half. Following the game, Chennaiyin FC head coach Owen Coyle interacted with the media in the post-match press conference.

Owen Coyle gave a fairly honest assessment of the game, stating how his side didn’t start well, but got the job done in the end. “I think Goa started very brightly and we didn’t. We knew that Goa are a very good side and they don’t need gifts to play well," he began.

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"We didn’t pass the ball well enough and they scored two goals, Fall with a beautiful goal from a set-play. If they had scored another away goal they would’ve had the advantage. But, that's when the calm heads prevailed,“ the Scotsman added.

“We didn’t completely throw away the game in the first half, Vishal (Kaith) didn’t really have to make many saves. We promised to remain calm during the break and we knew we had to take care of the ball. I’m actually really annoyed to have lost the game. After that start, not many would’ve expected us to win the game. We aren’t the team to try to protect our lead, but to go attack during all times,” Owen Coyle further went on to say.

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“The job was to win over the two legs which we’ve managed to do. It wasn’t easy to do it against the team which finished No. 1, they finished there for a reason. They’ve been the best team in the league over the course of the season, but since January we’ve been the best team. For us to be champions, we have to be at our best, as there are two very good opponents, whoever qualifies, it’ll be a real tough test," he also added.

The 53-year-old agreed that conceding those late goals scared him, but he was convinced Chennaiyin would see it through. “Any goal you concede scares you. We didn’t make the substitutions to shut up shop, they moved up Fall to intensity their attack. Had we taken good care of the ball in the last 10 minutes, we would’ve actually scored. But, we just couldn’t find that final chance."

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"They did very good to get the late goals but after it was 2-2 we just weren’t going to lose. I told my players at half-time we score a goal and the stadium was going to go silence. That’s what happened," the tactician stated.

“We should’ve scored after it was 2-2. For the youngsters, this is still a learning experience. Our game management should’ve been better. They have to learn that game management. But yeah those late goals really gave me a scare, I think I might’ve grown a few more grey hairs! But we were better through the two-legs and the deserved team won overall," Owen Coyle added.

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The Chennaiyin FC boss also raved about his Indian players, stating his delight at their quality and potential. “I always loath to single out individuals and I love working with the Indian players. I actually discussed this with Igor (Stimac), who’s an outstanding coach, about the potential of these boys. Of course, Jeje (Lalpekhlua) is slowly coming back, but you have the likes of Laldinliana (Renthlei), Jerry (Lalrinzuala), German (Singh), who for me are capable of playing in the national squad," he opined.

The Scotsman termed his side reaching the final a “remarkable achievement” and stated that whatever happens, they’ll pour everything into the game to get the win. He explained, “I think for us to be in the final, given the position when I came in, is a truly remarkable achievement. By remarkable achievement, I mean by everybody. What everybody has contributed. We have a very good club. The first thing that struck me was that we joined very good people. It’s wonderful for everybody. What we’ve shown is we have that togetherness and real quality. We’ve played under pressure every week, but gotten our results.

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“It’ll count for nothing in my books if we can’t see it through. We need to make sure we see this through and we need to ensure when we come out at full-time there are no regrets. We stepped up and when we did, we showed our quality. The final is the showcase game of the season. We’re looking forward to that. It’ll be a tough opponent whoever we play, but we’ll be ready for it. We’ll be on the front foot, we’ll try to score goals and try to be aggressive with our play,” he finished.