The I-League tite race has been thrown wide open after Chennai City were held by NEROCA...

Chennai City dropped crucial points in the 2018-19 I-League title race as they drew 3-3 with NEROCA on Monday at the Khuman Lampak Stadium.

The league leaders were ahead by three goals at the break after Pedro Manzi grabbed his fourth hat trick of the season. However, a revitalized NEROCA completed a terrific comeback to pull level at the end of the ninety minutes.

"We are not happy with a draw or loss. We will never be happy with a draw or a loss. We always want to win. We are not other clubs where if they draw, they are happy. Our philosophy is that if we draw, we lose," Chennai City head coach Akbar Nawas said after the game.

"Now we have to go back to the drawing board to see why we drew. NEROCA have wonderful experienced players. You could see that in the game. Our players, they are bit raw, they get nervy and it happens. What went wrong? Like I said the inexperience of our young local boys.

"Don't assess whether this affects the championship, assess how we are going to develop football in India. We want to play a certain type of football."

His counterpart, NEROCA head coach Manuel Retamero felt his team could have scored a fourth goal and picked up all three points.

"The spirit was very good. They fought till the end against one of the best teams. We missed two very very clear chances. I am happy about the second half.

"Our action was not good. To see that was hard for everyone. We talked in the dressing room to improve. We couldn't score more goals than them but we had very clear chances to score the fourth goal and win the game," Retamero said.

Hat-trick hero Pedro Manzi was angered by the fact that his team could not return without a win.

"I feel very angry today. Because the team did not take three points," Manzi said.