Chennaiyin FC head coach Owen Coyle was pleased as his side secured a crucial three points at home against Punjab FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Saturday.

The Marina Machans, fresh off an impressive away win against East Bengal FC, started on the front foot and took the lead through Wilmar Jordan Gil. The striker made no mistake from the penalty spot, becoming only the third Chennaiyin FC player—after Nerijus Valskis and Steven Mendoza—to score 10 or more goals in a single ISL season.

Match Report: Chennaiyin FC 2-1 Punjab FC

However, the visitors responded strongly in the second half, with first-half substitute Luka Majcen pulling them back into the game. But Chennaiyin FC's super-sub Daniel Chima Chukwu sealed the win, finishing from close range to secure back-to-back victories for the Marina Machans—their first such run since winning three consecutive games between March and April 2024.

“We knew Punjab FC would be very dangerous because, obviously, with (Ivan) Novoselec suspended, their four foreigners occupied the front slots, and that was the reason why we went with two foreigners at centre-back, given that Dinpuia was also suspended. So, Pritam (Kotal) slotted over to the right,” Coyle shared at the post-match press conference.

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“We had plans that we could bring, obviously, Lukas (Brambilla) into the game when it opened up, and he found the spaces as he did. But at 1-0, we felt very good at half-time, knowing that Punjab FC would come out because they were fighting to be in those top six spots as well—and they did.”

“I was disappointed with the goal; I think it was avoidable. But at 1-1, and in truth, I thought Punjab FC got their tails up and dominated for 10 minutes or so—a few crosses going across the face of the box, which I wasn't entirely happy about because we gave up wide areas when we should have been stopping those crosses from coming in,” added the head coach.

As Punjab FC dominated proceedings in the second half, Coyle responded with attacking changes, introducing Lukas Brambilla and Chukwu—both of whom played a role in the decisive goal.

However, the visitors pushed hard for a late equalizer, but goalkeeper Mohammad Nawaz remained alert and ensured his team held on for all three points.

“So we had to change a couple of things, which we did. We made a few tweaks, a few substitutions, just to get us more solid defensively, but also to give us the opportunity to then go and play our game again, which we did, resulting, obviously, in a wonderful goal.”

“When you've not won games back-to-back, there's going to be a nervousness, there's going to be an edge to it, but the boys stood up to that. I think (Mohammad) Nawaz had a good save at 2-1 late on,” Coyle commented.

With this win, Chennaiyin FC stayed in the playoff race, moving to 24 points from 21 games—seven points behind sixth-placed Mumbai City FC, who have a game in hand. Coyle acknowledged the tough task ahead but assured that his team would keep pushing to finish the season on a strong note.

“We'll still keep fighting. We want to finish strong and show that we've learned lessons—harsh lessons. And I think there were a lot of really good individual displays within a team performance that merited the three points,” he commented.