Chennaiyin FC head coach Marco Materazzi was a relieved man to have at last registered his first win of the 2016 Hero Indian Super League on Thursday evening. The defending champions beat FC Goa 2-0 through goals from Hans Mulder and Mehrajuddin Wadoo to breathe life into their campaign after a draw and a loss in their previous two matches.Materazzi made quite a few changes to his team, most notable being the exclusion of Jeje Lalpekhlua, who had scored six goals in the Super Machans’ title triumph last year. “When someone is left out I also feel sad because I know what it means being a player and I know everybody wants to play all the games… But what matters today is that we won, so congratulations to the guys,” Materazzi told reporters in the post-match press conference.After conceding five goals in the previous two games against Atlético de Kolkata and Delhi Dynamos FC, Chennaiyin showed a big improvement in defence on Thursday night. The Italian also approved of his backline’s performance. “Last week I said it was my fault, and you know it’s not only the defence but it is the whole team that makes the game. We came in with a whole new mentality and what I told my players is that if we put the heart in, the will, the hunger, then we can win. If not then we are not the same team and we can be at the bottom of the table,” he said.18-year-old defender Jerry Lalrinzuala also had a great day at the office for the home team, showing a great improvement on his performance against ATK when he conceded a penalty in the dying moments of the match. Materazzi was all praise for the teenager. “I have great consideration for Jerry because during training sessions he works hard, he fights, so he deserved it, so I am also saying that players who work hard and train hard irrespective of their nationality or their height, and I am saying who deserves to play, plays and if he keeps performing like this then he will play again.”It was FC Goa’s third successive defeat this season and they are the only team not to have opened their account yet. Materazzi, however, was sympathetic towards their rivals and refused to write them off. “If you remember last year NorthEast after two games were on nil points and more or less even Mumbai City, but you can’t forget Goa is a very good team and three losses don’t mean that they are out,” he said.
