ISL 2021-22: If we play like this, we can’t reach the semi-finals: Chennaiyin FC’s Bozidar Bandovic

Chennaiyin FC head coach Bozidar Bandovic reckons if his team continues to play like the way they did against FC Goa in the 86th match of the Hero Indian Super League at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Wednesday, they won’t be able to reach the semi-finals.

The Marina Machans were blown away by 5-0 and it was an ignominious defeat for Bandovic’s team. The Gaurs dominated from the get-go as Makan Chothe scored in the sixth minute of the minute. Oritz made a fine return to the team as he scored a hat-trick while Narayan scored his own goal to add salt to the injury for Chennaiyin FC.

In fact, Chennaiyin FC looked all out in the contest as they could not even manage a single shot on target. Furthermore, they had only 39% of the possession as the Gaurs dominated right throughout the game.

Bozidar Bandovic lashed out at his team and said it was really bad defending from them as they conceded three goals at the start.

He said in the post-match press conference, “Ridiculous. Very bad game for us. We started very badly, conceding the first three goals. It was bad defending. It was a very bad day for us”.

In fact, Marina Machans were down 4-0 after the first half whistle. Bandovic added that they need to bounce back stronger in the upcoming matches.

He added, “What I said stays between me and my players. We had a very bad day but we have to stay positive and try in the next game and think hard about it because the picture of the team was bad today”.

Speaking about the positive despite the heavy loss, Bandovic added, “I can take the positive that Deepak Devrani had a good game. He played first game from the start and he did very well”.

Bandovic highlighted it is imperative for the team to stay positive after such a drubbing. The head coach backed his team to bounce back stronger.

He concluded, “We have to try to not let this happen. It’s a bad game. In football, sometimes we lose, sometimes we win. We conceded many goals but we need to come back. We have 6-7 days we need to come back and not let this repeat again. I don’t remember when my team conceded five goals”.

Chennaiyin FC is currently in eighth place with 19 points with four matches remaining. They will next face Odisha FC on Wednesday at the Tilak Maidan Stadium.