Kerala Blasters FC made it five points from five matches and moved to fifth place in the 2016 Hero Indian Super League after a 1-1 draw against hosts FC Pune City at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Balewadi on Monday. Cedric Hengbart scored the fastest goal this season to give the Blasters the lead before a 68th-minute strike by the Stallions’ marquee player and skipper Mohamed Sissoko rescued a point for the hosts.Speaking to the media after the match, head coach Steve Coppell said that while the result left him with mixed emotions, he was happy with his players’ efforts. “I think every coach realizes how difficult it is, especially when you travel. So, you know I thought coming here would be physically demanding for us. When we went one goal in front, I thought that it was a great effort. But I felt then that we tried to protect too much, we should have pushed forward and scored one more goal.”He continued: “I think if we had got one more goal and had been a little more positive in the first half then that would have put the game to bed. With one nil up, you know it’s always like being on a knife-edge. I always felt that they would score from a set-piece and that’s what happened. I believe it was a deflected shot but I haven’t seen it yet.“And then their goalkeeper (Edel Bete) made a magnificent save from Faruk (Chaudhary). At the end of it, I am a little bit disappointed but also pleased that my players put in so much effort.”Tempers began to flare in the second period with both sides looking to win the game. When asked if the heated confrontations on the pitch between both sets of players was a result of frustration, Coppell said: “We are not physical. We just want to play football. We are certainly not physical. I think there was something with (Mohammed) Rafique. You look at the size of Rafique, he is not going to cause a problem. So, yeah the referee did ok on the night. He did ok to control the game fine.”Kerala now play FC Goa at Fatorda’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on October 24.
