FC Goa & Chennaiyin FC: Contrasting yet equally remarkable seasons

This is the second time that both sides are set to meet in the playoffs of the league.

As the dust settled on February 25 in Guwahati and the semi-final fixtures attained complete clarity, it rather made up to present a very telling picture. FC Goa had already cruised in to become the league toppers and seal the AFC Champions League spot early on. However, they are now going to come up against Chennaiyin FC, who made it to the semis but have a wholly different tale to narrate too.

The beauty of the playoffs is that it provides a team that turned on the accelerator late in the competition an opportunity to begin on level-playing terms with all other sides. It adds much more spice and a tinge of unpredictability to the nature of the league. Moreover, it opens up chances for teams to script a comeback story, that wouldn’t necessarily be possible once they have conceded sizable ground in competitions where the league leaders are declared the eventual champions.

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Until November, Chennaiyin stared at yet another long and dreadful season with no respite and little success. Quick action was needed to set the scores straight and initiate a revival of fortunes. Owen Coyle’s arrival as the head coach did bring an aura of positivity, but the critics were anyways firm on denying that this initial surge of results in his tenure would result in anything productive at the end of the season. This is because, it has been widely observed in recent times that new managers tend to bring with them a streak of successful outings, but they are unable to sustain the same in the longer run.

Owen Coyle has turned the tables on Chennaiyin FC's form this season

However, Coyle defied that notion with some style and consistency. Not only did his team manage to upstage their ranking in the points table, they did so by scoring a plethora of goals against more fancied opposition too. Under John Gregory’s tutelage the Chennaiyin players scored goals at a rate of 0.66 per match. However, it jumped to an average of 2.1 goals/each game for the 12 encounters that Coyle has handled the proceedings in. This includes a closely-contested 4-3 defeat against FC Goa, a game in which the team from down south almost completed a thrilling comeback with two goals late in injury-time.

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However, Coyle also displayed an astute tactical acumen when the situation demanded. In the match against Mumbai when they qualified for the playoffs, his team didn’t adopt an all-out attacking approach that had become typical of them through their previous games. In fact, they started off arguably with the intention to achieve a draw, knowing that his team had a game in hand with respect to the Islanders at that point in time.

It was only in the dying embers when Mumbai messed up and the Marina Machans had a chance through a corner that Lucian Goian converted into a goal. Despite Jorge Costa’s team putting forward their best-available attacking quartet on the field, Chennaiyin showed incredible restraint to deny the home side. This showed that Coyle had another more pragmatic and thoughtful aspect to how he went about his business.

FC Goa parted ways with long-time head coach Sergio Lobera earlier in the season

This would be particularly useful when his team would come up against the Gaurs who have had a peerless run, typical of how they were as long as Sergio Lobera held charge of the duties. Despite some hiccups in the start of the season, the only major issue faced by them has been the dismissal of Lobera early this month under blurred circumstances. They have dismantled the three teams they have faced under Clifford Miranda’s stewardship by scoring 14 goals in this troika of matches over the course of last three weeks or more. Chennaiyin FC would present a unique challenge for FC Goa under Clifford Miranda men, as it would be the first time ever since the overhaul of coaching staff that the team would play against a group of players who have shown similar intent and been equally efficient in putting the ball at the back of the net in the recent times.

FC Goa has scored the record number of goals in the ISL league phase (46) this season

The idea of pitting the top-placed team with a side that finished fourth in the table is a bit skewed in itself. Firstly, it tells the team that just sneaked their way in to the elite quartet that to justify their qualification, they have to beat a franchise that is well and truly above everyone else in terms of quality and results that they have produced. Goa thrashed the Mumbai City FC by an aggregate of 5-1 in their semifinal clash last season, and put forth a clear message of the disparity of sheer eminence between the two clubs. Will a similar result ensue this time around?

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The tie could swing in anybody’s favor, but what Chennaiyin FC have achieved ever since the start of December is nothing short of what FC Goa has done throughout the season. Yes, the Machans’ sample space is relatively shorter but their managerial rejig happened quite earlier than Goa’s and they also have a positive, rather victorious momentum at their back. Though unknowingly, they have overturned the line of thought that the team at the top would start as the overwhelming favorites to clinch the spot for the final in the semi-final.

Chennaiyin FC will face arguably the best team in Indian football in the semifinals, but they have got nothing to be intimidated by FC Goa come the 29th of February. For they have conceived a story, a tale and a comeback that is as remarkable as the Gaurs’ run in this campaign.  They just switched on the headlights a tad bit late, but still have time to compensate for that in the coming couple of weeks.