Goa test for Chennaiyin

Chennaiyin would be keen to continue from where they left off in a pulsating final when John Stiven Mendoza scored twice in the dying minutes to hand Chennaiyin the trophy. On the other hand, Goa would eye to upstage the home team, a task that isn’t new to Zico’s men. 

Both the teams haven’t had the best of starts in the league with Chennaiyin having just one point from two games while Goa have none, languishing at the bottom of the table. 

A five-day break after a nightmarish outing against Delhi Dynamos should have recharged Marco Materazzi’s men as they look to regroup better for the encounter against the Gaurs. 

Chennaiyin’s defence was in tatters in the last match against Delhi with skipper Bernard Mendy, leftback Nalappan Mohanraj and marquee player John Arne Riise guilty with a string of under performances. Materazzi’s men would hope to plug in the gaps in defence and play as a cohesive unit on Thursday. 

Chennaiyin were in a spot of bother in trying to maintain the pace of the game. Both Mendy and Riise were caught out of position many times as the Dynamos stepped on the gas and the team would want an encore. 

Chennaiyin were touted to have the strongest defence in the league, but with conceding five goals in two games, the statistics had the upper hand. 

Chennaiyin lacked teeth in the final third too in the last match. Jeje Lalpekhlua’s pass to send Dudu through for Chennaiyin’s only goal was the only bright spot and with the coach emphasising on an attacking style of play, the forwards would have had a lot of work to do. 

Brazilian Zico, at the helm of FC Goa for the third season, said his team was prepared to turn things around after consecutive losses against NorthEast United FC and FC Pune City. 

“We are well prepared to look for a good result. We played well in the first two matches although we didn’t get a result. We are prepared for a nice match,” Zico said. 

Goa, having scored just one goal in two matches, would be keen to score more but Zico dismissed the thoughts of not playing an attacking game. 

“We are working on it in training but even in first season, we scored only two in the first two games. I think we’re playing well but the best players form the opponents are their goalkeepers and even though we’re attacking there are no goals as yet. I’m not worried about the style but maybe the players are lacking little confidence to find the back of the net,” the Brazilain added.

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