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Jeje Lalpekhlua had a dream run in the inaugural edition of the Hero Indian Super League. While the diminutive striker from Hnahthial in Mizoram couldn't lead Chennaiyin FC to the title, he ended the tourney as the highest Indian goal scorer having netted 4 times in 13 appearances for the Mariners.
This season however, he had been rather subdued. Clearly, opposition defenders had managed to formulate a plan and were marking him judiciously. A solitary goal from 5 starts didn't quite command the same awe that he usually does. As they say though though, class is permanent and Jeje showed just that last night against the Dynamos from Delhi. Netting a brace, he not just ended his own dry run but also thrust his team back in the reckoning for the play-off’s.
Talking to the ISL Media Team after the resounding win, he exuded, “It’s an amazing feeling. It was a great team performance. But now we need to look forward to the next match.”
Chennaiyin has now managed to score 8 goals over the last 2 matches, asserting how that augurs really well for the team, he added, “We follow Marco’s [Materazzi] instructions. In the past few game, we did create a few chances. Tonight, luck was on our side and we managed to score.
We are most definitely happy. But now it’s time to look ahead. For us, every match is like a final. So now it’s all about putting in our best performances and qualifying for the semis.”
Playing down his own performance, he said, “The goal-scoring is not what’s important. It’s all about winning the match and taking three points. If everybody scores and we win, that’s good.”
Maintaining that making the semi finals like they did last year is their primary goal, he quipped that the team needs time to recover from the back to back games and if they manage to do that, the ascent should only continue, “Yes, we are in a good position now. But we need to use the time [between now and the next match] for recovery and come back stronger.”
