Confident of finishing in top-four, says Soosairaj

Beating the traditional powerhouses has reinforced the team’s belief that it belongs to the elite group. While East Bengal suffered an unexpected reverse to go down 1-2 despite leading by a goal at halftime last season at the Nehru Stadium in Chennai, Mohun Bagan couldn’t cash in on the numerical advantage as it lost by an identical margin to a 10-man City. 

The major difference between the two acts of giantkilling was that Chennai City inflicted the loss at Bagan’s home and the ramifications of the defeat were felt almost immediately with Sanjoy Sen, coach of Mohun Bagan, offering to step down after losing both the match and his face on a ‘Tragic Tuesday’ for the club’s fans.

Although pleased with the result, the captain of the victorious Chennai City, M Soosairaj, has put on his trekking boots and firmly set his sights on scaling even taller peaks, both literally and figuratively, as his team will next face the challenge of taking on Shillong Lajong at the latter’s home turf. 

With their confidence at an all-time high that is perfectly in keeping with the lofty altitude of Shillong, Soosairaj is not daunted by the task that awaits his team on Friday. “After defeating a tough opponent like Mohun Bagan, we are extremely confident of repeating those heroics against Shillong Lajong. Lajong, too, is in a similar situation to where our team is in terms of standings and with us having the necessary momentum, we aim for all three points,” said the Chennai City skipper.

Chennai City had to play with a man short for close to an hour against Mohun Bagan and when asked whether he felt his team was capable of sparking a turnaround from such a dire situation, Soosairaj said the sending off helped his team express itself and play without any pressure. 

“We knew that Mohun Bagan was not the same team it used to be as it was coming off three successive draws. Also, it helped when we took the lead in the sixth minute. When we were down by a man, we didn’t focus on the result and made sure that the defence was more organised. What worked in our favour was we kept fighting till the end,” added Soosairaj, who made the assist for the second goal.