Chennaiyin FC head coach Owen Coyle was left disappointed with his team's defensive errors as they went down 1-0 to Mohammedan SC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Thursday.

A solitary strike from Lalremsanga Fanai in the 39th minute was enough for the Black and White Brigade, who registered their first-ever win in the Indian Super League (ISL).

Chennaiyin FC began the game with intent, dominating the early stages and creating several opportunities. However, it was the visitors who threatened first, capitalizing on a defensive misstep by the home side. Alexis Gomez found himself through on goal but could only hit the post. Moments later, another defensive blunder from the Marina Machans gifted Fanai the chance, and this time, he made no mistake in finding the back of the net.

"That’s a very avoidable goal, which is doubly frustrating because we'd started the game really well, and we probably could have been a couple of goals in front,” Coyle stated in the post-match press conference.

“We certainly should have been in the first 30 minutes, and then we gifted them a chance. Prior to that, you remember Dinliana was short with a back pass, so there's no doubt there were a couple of defensive errors for sure that led to their chances,” he added.

The Marina Machans maintained their aggressive, attacking approach, with the defence stepping up and pushing men forward in search of an equalizer. However, this left them vulnerable at the back, and Mohammedan SC capitalized on their counter-attacking opportunities to great effect, exploiting the gaps left by Chennaiyin FC.

When questioned about whether committing more players forward ultimately cost them the game, he responded “We were dominating the ball, so we were up in the half and passing the move as we were there. But the issue was that there was nothing wrong with our play; what was wrong was that we made bad decisions. We made a terrible error that led to the goal. That has nothing to do with highlighting a low block or anything else; it was just a complete mix-up between two players and huge individual errors that cost us dearly. Had the score remained 0-0, there’s no doubt we would have gone on to score the goal."

Chennaiyin FC had the opportunity to join Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC with six points from two games, which would have bolstered their confidence early in the season.

However, Coyle remained optimistic about bouncing back from this home defeat to Mohammedan SC.

"I'd love to be sitting here with six points, for sure. We're obviously on three, which is better than we were this time last year. But six was achievable, and if we'd performed to a certain level and not gifted them (goals), we'd be sitting here with six. So we have to take that punch to the nose and look to bounce back quickly,” Coyle commented.

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