Seiminlen Doungel (L) and Cristian Hidalgo in action.Chennaiyin FC had to come away empty handed after a 3-0 defeat away to NorthEast United FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati. Two of the goals they conceded were from set pieces and attacking midfielder-winger Cristian Hidalgo admitted that more work had to be done in defending set pieces.“The most important thing is to start a match playing our 100%. We need to be careful in set pieces, and must try to forget this match. We have another game on Sunday, and we will try to get all three points to stay on top,” the Spaniard told indiansuperleague.com post the match.Hidalgo felt that the match was not as one sided as the scoreline suggested but the early goals knocked the stuffing out of the southerners. “I think we couldn’t convert the chances, I think we started the match well but in 20 minutes it was over,” he quipped.The Barcelona youth product claimed his team were not intimidated by the raucous crowd supporting the home team and instead said he was happy to see the fans turn out in such numbers. “No, I don’t think the fans of NorthEast United made it difficult for us. I like these fans because they support their team all the time even though their team was last on the table before this match. They’re good people,” he opined.Hidalgo has been traveling with his team all over the country and travels to Kochi next to face Kerala Blasters FC. The Hero Indian Super League (ISL) has been a positive experience for him along with all the other overseas players. “I like India, I like the people and the culture, and I think it’s a very interesting country to visit. I want to congratulate the ISL, it’s shaping to be like the star leagues in Europe,” the former Deportivo La Coruña player declared.
