Delhi Dynamos FC played out a 1-1 draw with FC Pune City in their opening encounter of the 2018-19 Hero Indian Super League (ISL) season at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday. The Lions were unlucky not to get all three points after a late goal from Diego Carlos cancelled out Rana Gharami’s stunner in the first half.

Josep Gombau, head coach of Delhi Dynamos, was present at the post-match press conference to answer the media’s questions. The Spaniard was happy with his team’s performance on the night but was ultimately disappointed with the final result. “Yes, I’m happy with the performance of the team, in terms of the effort that every single player put on the pitch. Obviously, I cannot be happy with the result because in the end, we didn’t get the three points, but I think we did well.”

Speaking on Gharami’s performance, Gombau was pleased with his centre-back, citing the hard work he has put in on the training ground to warrant a starting berth. “It’s a long competition and we just started. I decided to put Gianni (Zuiverloon) and Rana as central defenders. But Crespi is working well and he is a very good player. For sure, he will have his chance in the next three weeks. From 17th to 30th October we have five games and there will be time for everyone to play. Today, I decided to go with this line-up and I’m satisfied with my centre-backs for today.”

The 42-year-old expressed disappointment on his side’s missed chances which proved to be costly in the end, as Carlos scored a late equaliser. “I think in the first 20 minutes, we didn’t play up to our potential. But, after that, we controlled the game and I think, from the very beginning of the second half, we had the control of the game and we created chances as well. It’s true in football that if you don’t score your chances in one transition, the other team can damage you. We had a chance to score the second or third goal and we didn’t take them, Pune had their chance and they took it.”

From Pune’s end, Miguel Portugal was present at the post-match press conference. The Spaniard, who faced the club he coached last season, was of the impression that his troops deserved the point. “I think the result is okay. We started the first half well and had two or three chances to score. But it was a good goal scored by Gharami. In the second half, we tried to press-high most of the times and tried to get the equalizer. It’s true that Delhi had two chances to score more goals. But, in the first half, we deserved to score some goals. I think in general, the draw is okay.”

Portugal also admitted that his side took the risk of throwing the game away when they frantically went in search of the equaliser during the final stages. “That is one of the consequences of high-pressing. If you press higher your opponent can jump through the first press. That’s a risk. But I needed to take the risk as we were losing. In these situations, you must take the risk.”

Click here to read the match report.