A highly entertaining fixture in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 between Kerala Blasters FC and FC Pune City ended in a 1-1 draw at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Thursday. The hosts failed to capitalize on a flurry of chances towards the end after Mark Sifneos managed to get them back on level terms, post Marcelinho’s opener. Speaking to indiansuperleague.com after the game, the season’s 100th goal-scorer and the ‘Hero of the Match’ shared his thoughts on the game. Here are the excerpts.

It was a really good game to watch as a neutral, how was it to play it on the field?

I think it was a game of two halves. In the first half, it was a little balanced, Pune had more chances. In the second half, we came very strong out of the dressing room. We played very good, we had the ball, we had more possession and we were pressing them. We scored a goal as well. I think if we were luckier we would have got a second one and maybe we deserved to win, but I’m very happy with the one point getting behind but still fighting.

What was the half-time talk in the dressing room?

There were a lot of things said. We were all encouraging one another. We said we have to take heart and dig deep to get something out of this game and I think we did that.

Your thoughts on your goal.

I think it was a good attack. Courage (Pekuson) came from the left hand side and gave a very good pass. If (Iain) Hume didn’t make the run and take defenders with him, I wouldn’t be free and I wouldn’t shoot. It’s something that some supporters will not see.

Kerala had a number of chances in the dying minutes of the game. Do you think the draw is a fair result?

I think we could have come away with a win. We had some chances before the goal also. But after the goal, immediately, I had a chance but I couldn’t control it. After this, Courage had the chance. All in all, I’m happy with the point.

How would you describe Kochi’s pitch?

The pitch is very good. The fans are incredible, in spite of the results not going our way. They always give us some extra energy and boost. Even when we are behind they are the twelfth man and they encourage us to score.