ISL 2021-22: It’s nice to be at the top of the points table – Jamshedpur FC’s Owen Coyle after win against SC East Bengal

Jamshedpur FC head coach Owen Coyle was delighted after his team climbed to the numero uno position in the points table in the ongoing Hero Indian Super League after winning their fifth match of the season against SC East Bengal at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim on Tuesday.

Jamshedpur got over the line against SC East Bengal as Ishan Pandita scored another late winner in the 88th minute to take his team to a 1-0 win. Thus, Jamshedpur now has five wins from 11 matches and has 19 points under their belt in the standings.

Jamshedpur FC dominated the possession with 58% and took a total of five shots on target. Coyle heaped praise on youngster Ishan Pandita who scored a fine header to help his team bag three crucial points.

Owen Coyle said in the post-match press conference, “Oh yeah, that’s why I brought him to the football club. He’s just a wonderful player. He’s going to get better and to be fair, is working his socks off to getting into that starting lineup. He would have been there but he had a bit of an injury. But now you see he’s is free-flowing and moving well in the field with a couple of chances before they actually got the goal. But the header, I mean he’s a natural finisher. And as I mentioned there, if I can continue to have him here, I can help him to improve his game. I mean, the national team is going to have fantastic number nine, that’s for sure. But he’s wonderful to work with, he’s got a great attitude. He’s a great kid, the players, everybody, adored him because of his qualities and as a team player. So I can’t speak highly enough about him and you know, he really matters to them. He’s a wonderful talent. A brilliant header and that’s what he can do, he’s a wonderful player”.

On the other hand, SC East Bengal, which is yet to secure their maiden win of the season, had drawn four out of their last five matches before their clash against Jamshedpur. East Bengal was playing with all 11 Indian players and they have come up with impressive defensive play.

Coyle added, “Yeah, well, that’s where he’s been going hard lately. But SCEB has drawn four of the previous five games against Kerala Blasters FC, Mumbai City FC, Hyderabad FC, and Bengaluru FC the only game they lost in the five games was against Northeast United FC  when the man was sent-off. SC East Bengal have shown that how tough is to beat them. Of course, it took us late in the day, we could easily score three, four, or five goals with the chances that we had, but a couple of saves, good defending by SCEB stopped us. But the important thing is you got to be patient, not get frustrated”.

Jamshedpur FC gaffer added that it is nice to take the top position in the points table but they will need to be consistent in the upcoming matches.

Coyle continued, “Yeah, well, it’s nice. I mean, it’s nice to be top of the table. Anybody wants to be top at top of the tables after 20 games, not at eleventh spot. But we would certainly want to be here rather than standing at the bottom. We might have been there, we probably should have more points than what we already have. If you look back at the games, the game here against Chennaiyin FC, you know, how they won the game. So we know that we can go toe to toe with the best teams, we just have to make sure moving forward, we are doing the same things, and working hard. And when we get chances, we are clinical and we have good goalscorers. We’ll look to add another one coming in. And there will be real competition within the squad”.

Jamshedpur FC will next face Hyderabad FC on Monday at the Athletic Stadium, Bambolim.