Missed Germanpreet and Thapa’s presence: Coyle

At the post-match press conference, Marina Machans’ head coach Owen Coyle said, “If you can’t win the game, then you must make sure that you don’t certainly lose the game. I think it was a hard-fought game. I think it was tremendous accolade to us that Bengaluru came and sat everybody behind the ball and tried to make it difficult for us. So, that was a big mark of respect to how we’ve been playing.”

Coyle then, pointed to the absence of Anirudh Thapa and Germanpreet Singh as a key reason behind his team’s slightly rusty display on the night. He said, “We probably lost a little bit of fluency given that Thapa was suspended and Germanpreet was injured. So, I had to sacrifice Andre (Schembri) and bring an extra midfielder. So, we lost a bit of continuity and attacking verve. We were always in control of the match. But a draw was probably fair. It might turn out to be an important point at the end of the season.”

The 53-year-old also shared his delight after seeing his team earn a rare clean sheet. “It’s always great to get a shutout. The disappointment is that we never scored at the other end. I think part of that had to do with the change in personnel. That being said, it could be a very, very important point,” Coyle commented.

With regards to the performance of midfielder Masih Saighani, the Chennaiyin boss opined, “I think he grew into the game. And it was always a plan that we were only going to get 60 minutes from him, because he hadn’t played week in, week out. So, I think he tried his very best. It was always a plan for him to play 60 minutes, which he did.”