Kerala Blasters FC remained winless in three games after a 0-0 draw against their southern rivals Chennaiyin FC in Match 11 of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim in Sunday’s second game. But Kerala’s head coach Kibu Vicuna is not disheartened and believes that his side have shown an improvement on their first two games and should soon start winning their matches. 

“We didn't start the match that well but by the middle of the first half we started to play better. We had more of the ball inside the opponents’ half. In the second half it was very even. Last 15-20 minutes, we were tired because we played on Thursday as well. My feeling is that if we continue to play like this then we can get the three points,” said Vicuna in the post-match press conference.

Apart from a solitary goal from a penalty against NorthEast United FC in their previous game, Kerala’s main goal threat Gary Hooper has failed to make much of an impact. However, he has Vicuna’s full support. “We expect Gary to score goals. He needs time to know the team. For sure Gary is going to have a good season,” Vicuna said.

Kerala created a number of chances but couldn’t make the most of them. Sharing his thoughts, Vicuna said, “It’s true that we had chances to score especially in set-pieces but tonight we couldn’t score. Hopefully, we are going to continue training and try to convert these chances.”

Watch Kibu Vicuna's Post-Match Press conference here:

Chennaiyin FC head coach Csaba Laszlo, meanwhile, rued a lack of intent in the final third and the penalty they missed in the 76th minute. It was Jakub Sylvestr who couldn’t score off that golden opportunity. “We have some good and fast players who can use the spaces well. What we missed is that we don’t shoot more on the target. If we don’t shoot on the target, we can’t win the game. This is what we missed today.

“Unfortunately, we missed the penalty. If we had scored, we could have won the game. But this happens in football,” he said.

Laszlo though praised youngster Deepak Tangri, who appears to have established himself in the middle of the park for the Marina Machans. “Deepak has really impressed me. He has not played many matches in the Hero ISL but he has impressed me in the middle of the park,” he said.

Watch Csaba Laszlo's Post-Match Press conference here: