"The touch, the kick, everything was brilliant" - Jamshedpur FC boss lauds Daniel Chima Chukwu's performance against Kerala Blasters FC

Jamshedpur FC handed Kerala Blasters FC a 3-0 drubbing at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim, Goa to strengthen their hold on the top-four spots in the Indian Super League (ISL). The talismanic Greg Stewart was yet again amongst the goals, scoring two from the spot.

After the game, head coach Owen Coyle lauded the Scotsman's performance and hailed him as one of the best players in the league. Meanwhile, Daniel Chima Chukwu also got himself on the scoresheet. The Nigerian forward moved from SC East Bengal to Jamshedpur FC during the winter transfer window. Since then he has scored three goals in three games.

"Despite all of these so-called experts and their opinions, I told you from the start that Daniel [Chima] is a wonderful player. Not just because he scores goals but what he brings to the team. The touch, the kick, everything was brilliant from the lad tonight," the Red Miners gaffer said.

He further added:

"It’s important that you’re consistent, both in your performances on the pitch, and off the pitch personality. He’s an outstanding player, we’ve got Greg [Stewart] on the front, some amazing wingers down the sides, Jamshedpur is a very exciting team and Daniel Chima is playing a very big part in it."

Jamshedpur FC were awarded two penalties during the game. It had been 32 matches and 14 games since their last penalty. Asked about the same, Coyle said:

"Well obviously, they’re penalties. It’s like the London bus, sometimes you wait forever one and sometimes you wait for one and two come together and that’s what happened tonight."

Speaking about the overall game, Coyle was visibly elated and said:

"Greg [Stewart], Boris [Singh], everyone was outstanding. Greg is certainly the best player in the league. We scored three and could’ve scored more than that and of course I’ve got to say, we’ve won against a very good Kerala side who I believe will be in the top four. They’ve got an outstanding coach, very good players, and Kerala are tough nut for anybody to crack."

Jamshedpur FC have now raced to four wins and three clean sheets in their last five matches. How does the coach feel?

"We’re working hard, and there’s still more work to do ahead of us. We’ve learned our mistakes from the Bengaluru game, and what was important is that we learnt to rebound quickly. There is pure spirit and camaraderie when you’re winning but the truth is when you have a difficult moment, when you lose a game, you have to bounce back, and we showed that tonight. From the first minute till the last, the boys were outstanding tonight."

Detailed ISL fixtures are available here.

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"Players need to avoid committing these errors" - Ivan Vukomanovic on two penalties conceded by Kerala Blasters FC against Jamshedpur FC

As mentioned before, Kerala Blasters FC conceded two crucial penalties and that very well could be tagged as the game decider. Ivan Vukomanovic opined that these are individual errors and players need to try and stay focused.

"In these moments, we must admit that it was a poor decision by our players, especially in the last minute of the first half and the first minute of the second half. We can speak about lack of concentration, but these are the decision-making moments. The players need to stay focused, stay concentrated, and need to avoid committing these kinds of errors. But anyway this is one second during the game and it happens," Vukomanovic said.

The Tuskers head coach further opened up about the two crucial game-deciding penalties. He said:

"When you commit penalties like that, it's always about the individual mistakes. We knew that it will be a very intimidating game against a very good opponent and we have to be very concentrated. So lack of concentration, that moment, you know, as a player, you face those moments, you need to be ready to play these kinds of games, So if you speak about those mistakes, you know, in football, it happens. Sadly, for us, it worked against us tonight, we lost the game because of that."