Laszlo’s Chennaiyin hopes to end ‘Goa’l drought

Chennai

In its last four fixtures, Csaba Laszlo’s Chennaiyin drew a blank thrice – against Kerala Blasters FC (KBFC), Bengaluru FC (BFC) and NorthEast United FC (NEUFC). Having been ineffective up front, CFC would hope to set things right in the final third when it squares off against FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Saturday.

Chennaiyin head coach Laszlo, at the pre-match press conference, said that the objective could be achieved only by staying concentrated. “If we fail to score, we won’t win. We need to score goals. For that, we should be focused and not be aggressive when we get chances. The players were out of football for six months, so it is not easy to come back and hit the ground running,” Laszlo told reporters virtually.

“I want my players to score more goals in training. Once they do that, they will have more confidence. In the games, there is pressure and responsibility. We are trying to resolve the issue and are working on it. Maybe in one of the coming matches, we will win by a lot of goals and then the ice will be
broken,” he added.

Jakub Sylvestr, Esmael ‘Isma’ Goncalves and Anirudh Thapa have netted a goal apiece for CFC, which has only five points to show. To stay in touch with the early pacesetters, the two-time ISL winner will have to get going as soon as possible.

But, Chennaiyin will not have it easy against a hungry Goa that comes into the contest on the back of a defeat. Juan Ferrando-coached Goa lost 0-1 to ATK Mohun Bagan (ATKMB) and has eight points from six matches.

Talking about the duel against Goa, Laszlo said: “We must stay compact and focus on ourselves. Goa will look to make a comeback. Both sides play
good football and it should be an interesting game.”

CFC will be without the injured Isma, but it remains to be seen if centre-back Enes Sipovic is fit for the clash. The Bosnian sat out the previous game due to a niggle.