Chennaiyin FC edged hosts FC Pune City 1-0 at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune on Sunday, thanks to Chennai’s skipper Henrique Sereno’s pinpoint header. The win takes Chennai to second on the points table, just below table-toppers Bengaluru FC with whom they share the same points.

Chennai’s head coach John Gregory told the media at the post-match press conference that he was happy with the three points his team earned, but their overall performance was not up to the mark. “I probably would (have been happy with a draw) because we weren’t very good today. That’s probably the worst we’ve played over the course of the season. We haven’t played for 10 days and it took us a while to get going. The goal was worthy of winning the game. It was a great ball from (Jaime) Gavilan and Henrique, reminiscent of the final last year, came up with the goal. So, I think the goal deserved to win the match, but I don’t think it was the greatest spectacle. I think they had a few tired legs in their team. Winning today, we’re looking forward to playing on Thursday with a lot of happy faces on the training ground,” he said.

Both Chennai and Pune are known for their attacking prowess, but in Sunday’s match, both the teams seemed to hold back their natural game. When questioned about this, Gregory explained, “I think the pitch was a bit heavy. The ball didn’t move as quite as it should have on the pitch. I’ve got a lot of young boys on my team. If they’re not young in age, they’re young in terms of experience. For them to come to a place like this is probably intimidating for them. They’ll learn from this experience tonight, from coming here, keeping a clean sheet and winning. No matter what you guys say to me, we are very happy today.”

The Englishman was also all praise for talisman Jeje Lalpekhlua who is yet to score his first goal of the season. “In all honesty, that was his best game for us so far. He was on his own a lot up there. We possibly didn’t give him the best service. He has this record against Pune which he couldn’t add to tonight, but he worked really, really hard. He has to earn his place in the team and I think he did exceptionally well today. The goals will come if he continues to work like that, he said.

When asked if it was intimidating to play in Pune, the Englishman added: “I don’t think (the stadium atmosphere at Pune was intimidating). Sometimes it’s harder when you’re at home. We have big crowds at the Marina Arena, a lot of people you have to satisfy, a lot of people come expecting us to win and sometimes it’s more difficult to play at home. Pune are a good side, they’re in the middle of a very good run, they have some good footballers on their side. They’re the top scorers in the league. To keep a clean sheet against them is a big pat on the back of my defence,” he concluded.