Chennaiyin FC assistant coach Sabir Pasha was delighted following his team’s return to winning ways in the 2016 Hero Indian Super League on Tuesday. Jeje Lalpekhlua and Davide Succi scored either side of the break to take the Super Machans to a 2-0 win against FC Pune City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai. It was the defending champions’ first win in six matches after two losses and three draws. Addressing the media, Pasha was understandably happy and praised Raphael Augusto unequivocally, who stole the show in midfield and also provided the assist for Succi’s goal.

“Raphael is such a player that you cannot control him. He has so much talent and I think Marco [Materazzi] has done a great job in getting his talent out. If you stick him to a job, then he has to do that and he gets restricted but today he had a free role and he fitted in that, and you could see he changed the game. The people who were defending were more worried about Raphael than Davide or Jeje. I think it is the best role for Raphael,” Pasha said.

Chennaiyin came into the contest following a 3-1 defeat by Kerala Blasters FC. Bernard Mendy had put them ahead in the 22nd minute, after which many more chances came the Super Machans’ way. However, their inability to finish off those chances gave the Blasters a chance to get back into the game. Pasha was relieved that things didn’t transpire that way again on Tuesday evening.

“You see you cannot rely on one goal when you have opponents like Mohamed Sissoko and so many top players. Any one strike can harm us and I think the second goal was very important to seal the game, so hats off to the strikers. We keep getting goals every match and the only thing that we must do now is stay compact,” he said.

Chennaiyin defender Mehrajuddin Wadoo also accompanied Pasha to the press conference and shared his thoughts on the result. “I think it is good and we were disciplined to win the game. It’s been a long time we have not won the game, so everyone is excited and everyone gave their best and I would like to thank the almighty.”

Pasha also said that he was happy with Eder Monteiro’s performance in the match. The Brazilian made his first start of the season on Tuesday. “He is a very good player and it is unfortunate that we have many good players in that position but I think Marco has done a great job on rotating the players, and at the start Eder was giving away some fouls as it was his first match but once he settled down, he did a great job. He is a commander who is not only a great player but also a great motivator.”