Chennaiyin FC boosted their 2015 Hero Indian Super League semis hopes a great deal with a 3-0 win over Mumbai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday and head coach Marco Materazzi congratulated his players on picking up their third successive win and keeping the Super Machans in the hunt despite losing star midfielder Raphael Augusto to injury during the game.“We don’t know yet about Raphael, he would be going for examination tomorrow. We think it’s a muscle problem. But I want to congratulate the rest of the team members who despite losing such a key player as Raphael during the game managed to move along just fine. A special mention for Zakeer [Mundampara] who played well today, despite getting very few chances to play this season,” Materazzi told reporters on Tuesday.The match was played throughout in the pouring rain and when asked if being the home side helped them on a drenched pitch, Materazzi said: “We weren’t aware of the pitch conditions. We wanted to play as soon as possible, at a suitable time after our warm-up in order to avoid injuries. We just wanted the victory real bad.”Materazzi also said that the Super Machans weren’t done yet. “We are not done yet, we are one step away though. We do that and then we can say that we have made the difference that we needed.”Materazzi also said that he wouldn’t mind if NorthEast United FC and FC Pune City play out a draw at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday because that will help his side’s chances a great deal. “What matters to me is to have one point more than the other teams and if tomorrow there’s a draw, that’ll be fine by me.”
