Already under pressure after a hat-trick of draws, Sen's worst fears came true today when Mohun Bagan suffered I-League season's first loss at the hands of the unfancied southern outfit who were reduced to 10 men in the 34th minute.
Chennai City took a sixth minute lead through Frenchman Jean-Michel Joachim before Ansumana Kromah levelled it 1-1 from a penalty after Pradeep Mohanraj handed the ball inside the box.
Veniamin Shumeyko then headed home the winner in the 71st minute to script the first big upset of I-League this season.
"This is the first home match I lost. I tried a lot, I do not have the mentality to continue after this loss and three home draws where we could not come back. I can't deny that," Sen said at Mohun Bagan tent.
Having kicked off their campaign in style, Mohun Bagan beat arch rivals East Bengal 1-0 in the Kolkata derby but their title aspirations have dwindled. They are now at fifth place in the league table with 10 points from seven matches.
"Before I was sacked, I think I have taken the right decision. As Gerard Houllier said 'you are no coach unless you are sacked," he said.
This was the second match in a row that Mohun Bagan played at their home venue, as I-League came to Kolkata Maidan for the first time in history.
But the first resulted in a draw -- against a 10-man Indian Arrows, the developmental side of AIFF -- and the fans had put pressure, shouting 'go back Sanjoy Sen'.
Sen was appointed the chief coach for the Mariners in December 2014 after the club parted ways with technical director Subhas Bhowmick and was instrumental in their I- League triumph in the 2014-15.
He had previously been in-charge of Kolkata clubs like Mohammedan Sporting and United Sports Club and enjoyed success mostly in Cup competitions.
While United SC became runners-up in IFA Shield and Durand Cup under his tutelage, the Black and Whites won the Shield last season. Sen had also led Mohammedan to become the champions of the I-League second division a couple of seasons back.
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