Chennaiyin FC handed Jamshedpur FC their second defeat of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 as they secured a narrow 1-0 win at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Thursday. Jeje Lalpekhlua’s first-half penalty was enough for the visitors to grab all three points and solidify their position at the summit of the table, while Kervens Belfort missed spot kick is sure to upset the hosts.

Present from Chennai’s side in the post-match press conference was their assistant coach Syed Sabir Pasha after head coach John Gregory was asked to leave the field by match officials for his protests following Jamshedpur’s penalty. Speaking about the incident that many deemed contentious as well as captain Henrique Sereno’s suspension, having accumulated four yellow cards over the course of the season, Pasha said, “See it is the decision of the referee. We cannot comment on that unless we see the videos. But Sereno is a great loss for us. But you know that we have some backup and John will have other ideas. It won’t be very difficult for us to comeback in the next game. I think we will fill it up.”

The quality of Jamshedpur’s pitch has been a matter of concern from the start of the season, but they seem to have put their resources to best use as was highlighted by Pasha, “I think everything (about the pitch) was fair. There were no complaints. It was a good and very interesting match. I think it is fantastic for Chennaiyin,” he said.

On the other hand, the home team’s head coach Steve Coppell looked visibly disheartened at the loss and rued the missed chances. When asked what could have been the possible reason behind the loss, the Englishman stated, “We won a couple of games away from home. We aren’t scoring too many goals obviously. We missed a penalty today. The difference between the two sides was that they scored a penalty and we did not. We did not really hurt them. I don’t want to make an excuse, but it is a fact that the pitch is a problem. I have got to coach better and we have got to execute better to try and make sure that we pick up points at home. I do want you to appreciate how difficult it is.”