Chennaiyin FC’s hopes of defending their crown in Hero Indian Super League 2016 took a near fatal blow following their dramatic 3-3 draw against NorthEast United FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Saturday evening. Dudu scored a hat-trick for the Super Machans on the night, however, a brace from Nicolas Velez and a late equaliser from Shouvik Ghosh saw the sides split the points, leaving Chennaiyin in seventh spot with 15 points and a game to play.Speaking to the media at the post-match press conference, Chennai head coach Marco Materazzi spoke of his surprise at the final scoreline and how he regretted his side buckling under late pressure yet again. “No, I would have never thought that [scoreline being 3-3] and unfortunately this is football and I feel sorry for my players as they fought hard and deserved to win today. NorthEast came here for a draw and in Kolkata we conceded a goal in the last minute and against Mumbai we conceded one goal in the 87th minute, same thing with Pune [in Balewadi], we conceded a free kick in the 84th minute and they scored, and today in the 95th minute,” Materazzi said.He continued: “So if somebody told me three years ago that come to India and you will reach the semi-finals in the first year and win in the second year and we would go out like this in the third year, I would still sign up, so I am happy about today’s performance and now we can play as good as we can in the next game against Goa.”Elaborating on his side’s propensity to concede late goals this year, Materazzi added: “Well, we are a new team and maybe it was due to a lack of experience and if Pune score an incredible goal like that [Anibal Rodriguez’s free-kick] and even Mumbai, then there is not much you can do but as I said before I am sad for my players as they were ready to die on the pitch today for the result, so I want to congratulate them.”Materazzi was also quick to jump to the defence of his leaky backline that has conceded 20 goals, most by any team so far this season. “So when you concede a lot of goals it is not only the defence. You can’t blame one department. When we conceded the first goal, it started with [Siam] Hanghal not tackling Wellington [Priori] strong enough. And what I regret is us not going for the fourth goal as Raphael [Augusto] was dribbling and trying to get past five players, he could have given a long ball to [Bernard] Mendy but as I say this is football and there is not much we can do about it now,” the Italian said.Mendy came on as a substitute late in the second half to provide the cross for Dudu’s third goal of the night and Materazzi explained why the Frenchman wasn’t a part of his starting 11. “It was because he had fever yesterday and he was not supposed to play but I thank him for being so professional and playing for us in the last 15 minutes or so,” he said.When asked what lies ahead with regard to his association with Chennaiyin FC, Materazzi said: “Well, right now it is the club which has to take the call to evaluate me and if they think that this year’s performance is my fault and my mistake, then I will step out. If they think I have done well overall, then we can talk about it and I would thank them for all that they have done for me and I have received a lot of love and they will always remain my friends.”Chennai play their last game of the league stage against FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Thursday.
