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Chennaiyin FC decimated NorthEast United FC 7-3 in Guwahati on Saturday (December 10). It was the Marina Machans' ninth game of the ISL 2022-23 season, and they remain in the seventh position with a win.
NorthEast United FC started life under new coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese in the worst possible manner as they suffered one of their most devastating home defeats. The Highlanders have never conceded seven goals at home.
Abdenasser El Khayati became the first player in ISL history to make a five-goal contribution in a game. Today he scored three and provided an assist for two goals in Chennaiyin's big win. The final scoreline read 7-3 in favor of the visitors.
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Sportskeeda caught up with Chennaiyin FC's hat-trick hero Abdenasser El Khayati for an exclusive chat after the game
The excerpts from the interview are listed below:
Q: You have become the first player in the history of the ISL to have a five-goal contribution in a game. What are your views regarding this?
El Khayati: It is an awesome feeling and also a good record to have in your bag, especially seeing the stature of the league and players that have played here previously. The likes of Del Piero, Pieres, and Forlan, so to have a record like this in a league where such stars have played is a good feeling.
But I would like to mention that the most important thing every week is the three points. Nothing is more important than that and if I can have both (wins and personal records) then, of course, it will be as good as today, especially if Morocco can win tonight (the World Cup game between Morocco and Portugal was ongoing at the time of this interview and Morocco were leading 1-0. Morocco did win the game.)
Q: What are your views about the ISL and the league as a whole?
El Khayati: With all due respect to the league and all the teams in the league, and I respect them a lot, I am not too bothered about the league and other teams. My main focus is our team Chennaiyin FC and how we can improve every week. We need to grow every day.
If we see each other today, I will see the three goals we conceded. Conceding three goals in an away game is not good. We cannot be conceding so many goals in a game if we want to achieve our targets.
I believe that even when we win and are happy, we can be critical of our performance and help ourselves develop for the next game.
Abdenasser El Khayati looks ahead to remainder of Chennaiyin FC's season in ISL 2022-23
Q: What are your targets for this season?
El Khayati: Personally, I don't have any fixed targets. Last year I didn't play many games, so I came here with a target to get games under my belt because I am not yet a 100 percent fit. Even last week I had cramps and even today, I felt a bit of cramp during the last 30 minutes.
That was my main target, to be honest, to play four, five, or six 90-minute games as the season progressed. The main focus was to get fit again.
As a team, we want to play in the playoffs and be in that top six.
