ISL: Chennaiyin FC 2-2 NorthEast United FC - Post-Match Reaction
An engaging battle between Chennaiyin FC and NorthEast United FC ended all square at two goals apiece. While NorthEast manager Ricki Herbert was pleased with his side's display of character, both the players and staff of Chennai were agitated at the refereeing.
Chennai's assistant manager Vivek Nagul said, "In my opinion, the tackle by Rehenesh on Balwant warranted a penalty, but the referee knows better than me, and he has made a decision which we have no choice but to accept."
When asked about the brilliance of Elano, Nagul said that the Chennai strikers must take inspiration from the Brazilian and look to score goals of their own. Nagul however denied that Chennai were over-dependent on Elano.
Left Back Dhanachandra Singh was honest when speaking about Chennai's defensive issues. He said, "More than communication, the problem has been that we have been prone to lapses in concentration. And when you lose concentration as a unit, you are bound to get punished."
Dhanachandra, when quizzed about his own performance, said, "It is part of the job for any full back to help out in attack, but the primary role is to defend."
Bojan Djordjic, Chennai's captain, was fuming. When asked about the penalty claims, Djordjic said, "Those weren't just claims. It was a stonewall penalty. What makes it worse for us is that in the previous game against Kolkata, Shilton was sent off for a similar offense. Also, there were a couple of other fouls that the referee failed to see.
I think we deserved the three points. NorthEast had only two chances and they took both those chances. We, on the other hand, managed to work their goalkeeper apart from the goals. We're disappointed but this will only spur us on to better things, and you guys will hopefully see that in Pune on Tuesday."
Harmanjot Khabra was visibly disappointed at the result, "We were leading 2-1 and let it slip due to a lack of concentration. We were also unlucky because in my opinion, we were denied a clear penalty"
Bernard Mendy was very honest in his assessment of the game, "We should have won that game, but two mistakes in defense allowed them back in the game. For their second goal, the cross came in and as a Centre Back, I decided to take responsibility to head the ball away, but Gouramangi also came in, and a lack of communication was a problem."
Herbert though was a pleased man. He said, "We were denied a similar penalty in Delhi and this time luck favoured us. It was just one of those things that could have gone either way. I would choose to rather talk about the character and fight we showed.
I'm particularly pleased for Len. He's a lad with good pace, and against aging defenders, I thought he could be a potent weapon, and so he proved. He took his goal brilliantly as well."
Herbert was also happy with the draw, "Considering where Chennai are in the table, and considering we're coming off a poor run of form, I think this is a good result. It is nice that we now go back to Guwahati. Hopefully, we can do justice to the fans who've been fantastic not only in our home games, but also wherever we've travelled."