Chennaiyin FC’s slump in the 2016 Hero Indian Super League continued following a 3-1 loss to Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Saturday evening. The Super Machans took a first-half lead through a deflected Bernard Mendy effort in the first period. However, a goal from substitute Didier Boris Kadio and a brace from CK Vineeth saw Chennai succumb to their second successive defeat.Speaking to the media at the post-match press conference, head coach Marco Materazzi admitted his team’s failure to add a second goal ultimately came back to haunt them. “If we had scored the second goal, it would have been a different result to the game. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Even though we played better in the first half, it was not enough,” Materazzi said.Commenting on what went wrong in the second period, the Italian said: “The first goal was actually a foul. The second goal was our mistake and by the time the third goal was scored, the game was already over.”The defeat has put the reigning champions’ title defence in serious jeopardy as they sit in the seventh spot with 10 points from nine matches. Materazzi, however, was quick to put his team’s poor run down to bad luck. “It is just bad luck. I would like to be at 20 points and not 10 points. It would be crazy if I was good with this position with 10 points,” he said.The last two games have seen Chennaiyin concede seven goals. When asked how his team was planning to move on, Materazzi said: “We are professionals, so we know what we have to do. I don’t think the goal difference in both the games actually reflects what really happened. We need to keep believing and pushing ourselves harder. If not, we all go home by the second or third of December.”Chennai now entertain FC Pune City on November 15.
