Owen Coyle discusses Chennaiyin FC's playoff chances with six games remaining

Chennaiyin FC were quite disappointing in their 2-0 loss to FC Goa.

Manolo Marquez’s FC Goa side eased to a 2-0 win over Owen Coyle’s Chennaiyin FC last night. First half goals for Iker Guarrotxena and Aakash Sangwan were enough to get all three points for the Gaurs at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa.

Chennaiyin FC were quite disappointing as they registered three shots in the entire game, of which none were on target. FC Goa on the other hand had a total of 17 shots and could easily have scored 2-3 more goals in the first half itself.

The win took the Gaurs to 33 points in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 table, four behind the league leaders Mohun Bagan Super Giant. Chennaiyin FC on the other hand now have a mountain to climb in front of them if they want to qualify for the playoffs this season.

Chennaiyin FC’s head coach Owen Coyle addressed the press following their loss to FC Goa. The Scotsman accepted that he was quite disappointed and here’s what he said about his side’s upcoming games…

Owen Coyle on Chennaiyin FC’s playoff hopes

With just six ISL games remaining this season, Chennaiyin FC’s playoff hopes are hanging by the thread. However, their head coach is certainly still believing in turning things around like his side did last season.

When asked about the upcoming games, Owen Coyle said, “Well, the important thing for us, I mean, is that we have six games now, four at home and two away, and every one of them, teams are round about us. Those are the ones that, you know, as we did last year, turned that in our head.”

“Certainly we have to perform better than we did in the first half tonight. But we know those games are winnable for our best. So we’ll refresh, take the feeling which is not particularly nice for everybody at the football club and look to pick ourselves up and look to win a home game and a derby game against Kerala.”

Mission impossible for Chennaiyin FC?

Chennaiyin FC face Kerala Blasters at home on Thursday. Following the game against their Southern rivals, they will play East Bengal, Punjab FC, Bengaluru FC, NorthEast United, and Jamshedpur FC to end their league campaign.

The Marina Machans are currently 10th in the ISL table with just four wins in 18 games. Owen Coyle’s side are currently on 18 points while Odisha FC occupy the sixth spot at the moment with 24 points from 17 ISL games.

While Chennaiyin FC have four of their last six league games at home, their home record has not been impressive this season. The two-time ISL champions have won just one of eight games at home, picking up just seven of a possible 21 points at the Marina Arena.

With just six games to go, Chennaiyin FC have a mountain to climb that looks to keep getting steeper with every passing game. Will Owen Coyle’s side script another fairytale run or is it too little too late for the Marina Machans in terms of their playoff hopes? Let us know your thoughts…

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