ISL | Chennaiyin has nothing but pride, while NEUFC has everything to play for

Chennaiyin FC plays for pride against NorthEast United FC in ISL, while NorthEast aims for playoffs. Strong finish crucial.

Out of contention for the play-offs, Chennaiyin FC will play for nothing but pride in its penultimate match against NorthEast United FC in the Indian Super League at the Nehru Stadium here on Monday.

The Higherlanders, meanwhile, are in with a good chance of making the cut. The visitors need three points from their remaining matches: versus Chennaiyin and a home match against East Bengal (March 8) to be assured of qualifying for the playoffs without depending on any other result.

Speaking to the media here on Sunday, Chennaiyin’s head coach Owen Coyle said his objective will be to finish strongly with two home matches remaining against NEUFC and Jamshedpur FC (on March 9) and prepare for the forthcoming Super Cup.

“It’s important that we finish strong, as we have looked to do over the past few weeks. I think we are well on our way to doing that with the victory at East Bengal, against Punjab, and a good display versus Bengaluru. We want to finish strong, win as many points as possible, and prepare for the Super Cup,” he said.

Coyle said NorthEast will come out with all guns blazing. “NorthEast have a huge motivation. NorthEast know if they win, it will take them into the playoffs; a draw would also be a good result for them since they have a couple of teams chasing them. We also want to put smiles on the faces of our supporters who have been with us through thick and thin,” he said.