Manish Maithani (R) receives the ISL Emerging Player of the Match award.FC Pune City could not secure a win against Kerala Blasters FC that could have taken them to the knockout stages of the inaugural Hero Indian Super League (ISL). Instead, Kerala did well to defend their one goal lead and win the match 1-0 as well as qualify for the semi-finals.Indian midfielder Manish Maithani played only his second game for Pune City today after coming back from a lengthy injury lay-off. His energy and drive in the midfield helped orchestrate many an attacking move that Pune managed to put together, but sadly, none of them came to fruition as the visitors failed to find the net despite having 16 shots on target. Kerala keeper Sandip Nandy also played a monumental part in keeping a clean sheet for his team, denying Pune on several occasions. Indiansuperleague.com caught up with Maithani after the game, and the Dehradun-born Indian international felt luck was not on his team’s side in this hotly contested encounter.How do you think your team performed?I think we went all out and tried to win this match, but it’s football so these things happen.You played a lot of long balls and had good possession for the first 15 minutes. Was that the game plan?The game plan was to go all out and qualify for the next round. We had a few really good chances, but unfortunately, we couldn’t score."It’s been a great experience and it will really help Indian football grow."Manish MaithaniDo you think your defence was at fault for the goal they let in? It’s football; I think that both teams had chances to score, and the one that comes up with a goal wins the game. It was unfortunate for us to concede that goal early in the game.How do you feel playing in front of 45-50,000 people?It’s a good audience, Kerala has got really good fans but I think our team played really well under this pressure and we also enjoyed the atmosphere as well.How has the ISL experience been for you so far?I think it’s been a great experience so far; it’s the first time that this has happened and we will learn a lot of things from the experienced foreign players and coaches. It’s been a great experience and it will really help Indian football grow.