Kerala Blasters FC head coach Steve Coppell was a satisfied man after picking up one important away point against Atlético de Kolkata at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium on Tuesday evening. With the 1-1 result that saw them move to 19 points from 13 games, Kerala remained fourth in the standings. They will now hope that Delhi Dynamos FC beat NorthEast United FC tomorrow as it will seal a place in the semis for the Blasters. If that doesn't happen, then they will at least need a point against the Highlanders in their last game of the league stage on Sunday to finish the job.Speaking to the media after the match, Coppell said: “Anybody who has seen Kolkata this season knows that they are very dangerous on counter-attacks and I think in the second half my goalkeeper did not have much to do and the same goes for their goalkeeper. I think towards the end both teams thought a point was not a bad idea, and in the end it was like watching a waltz. Against Mumbai when we went all out to attack [and lost 5-0], we learnt a bit of a lesson and we have got respect for our opposition as they have a terrific attack with good players like Hume, Postiga, Javi Lara and Doutie and they could really hurt us. All and all, I think our performance ticked all the boxes and to come here and get a point irrespective of what effect it has on the league, I am reasonably happy.”When asked he thought 19 points would be enough to reach the semis, the Englishman said: “I think I will find out tomorrow (laughs). One thing I have found out from this competition and from football is that you cannot depend on anybody else but yourself, so whatever happens [tomorrow], we will try and win the next game.”Considering the importance of the match, the Blasters were a little defensive in their approach against ATK. Coppell offered his explanation. “We had a couple of injury problems today and the way we had decided to play originally was not the way we ended up playing. We had a few injury problems in the morning today and we had to change things around in the last minute and we did okay, and you know our shape was a bit lop-sided, but again looking at the way Kolkata played, we had an extra man in midfield just to try and cramp the areas for Postiga as he himself can change the game and we managed to do that successfully,” he said.Kerala went ahead eight minutes into the game, after which ATK got the equaliser through Stephen Pearson, emanating from a beautiful team effort. “I must admit that if the goal was not against my team I would have enjoyed it. It was a terrific goal, perfect and laidback, and it was the classic third man run, and given the quality and athleticism of Borja, Hume and Pearson so lively, and when you get those combinations going you can't guarantee that you can stop them all, and I thought it was a terrific goal. This was an away game, so we had to be wary of them, and it came down to that one outstanding chance which they converted, and I thought it was an excellent defensive performance by our team without intending to be defensive,” he said.
