ISL 2023-24: I needed a test of character and I saw it – Chennaiyin FC’s head coach Owen Coyle after win against Mohun Bagan Super Giant

Chennaiyin FC head coach Owen Coyle said he wanted to test the character of the team and he saw it after a 3-2 win against Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the 20th match week of the Indian Super League at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Sunday.

The Marina Machans kept their calm and registered a thrilling come-from-behind win against the hosts. The Mariners took the lead in the 29th minute as Joni Kauko scored for the first after his return.

However, Chennaiyin FC bounced back as Jordan Murray equalized in the 72nd minute. Subsequently, Ryan Edwards scored in the 80th minute to give a 2-1 lead to his team. Dimitri Petratos then equalized for the Mariners in the stoppage time but Irfan Yadwad scored the winning goal in the last few seconds.

“After letting ourselves down and letting our fans down against Hyderabad FC, I needed a big test of character and I have seen it tonight,” stated Coyle at the post-match press conference.

He continued, “I think anybody watching the game, any neutral fan, would have loved the game because it was two teams going all out to win.”

Yadwad scored the match-winning goal and the gaffer was full of praise for the youngster as he helped his team bag all three points.

The Scot shared, “For young Irfan (Yadwad), he’s a young Indian number nine who has got a lot to learn. He scored in the Super Cup. He’s had five or six chances before in the Indian Super League to score. So to get his goal and what it meant and the quality showed, that will stand him in good stead. So I’m working with him daily and you can see his improvement, but there’s still a lot of stuff to come.”

With this win, Chennaiyin FC jumped to ninth place in the standings with 21 points from 19 matches. Coyle is confident that his team will make it to the playoffs if they can repeat the same performance.

He said, “We’ve got it all to do two home games now against two very good teams, Jamshedpur FC, who I know very well, and NorthEast United FC. But if we can replicate the performance level from tonight, from against Odisha FC, then of course it can lead to points and if we can win games, it gives us a great opportunity of trying to attain that sixth spot.”

“But listen, there are six teams that feel the exact same way as I do,” he added.

Chennaiyin FC will next face Jamshedpur FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai on Thursday.