A late goal from Delhi Dynamos FC earned them a point at the home of Kerala Blasters FC on Saturday, with the match ending 1-1. Andrija Kaludjerovic slotted home the equaliser for the Lions after CK Vineeth had given the Blasters the lead early in the second half. The draw sees Kerala drop points at home for the second consecutive time, as they failed to take their chance of reaching the summit of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) table.

At the post-match press conference, Kerala’s head coach David James was present to take questions from the media, where he expressed his frustration on his side not been able to hold on to their lead till the final whistle. “It is frustrating. The draw against Mumbai fell like a defeat. Today we did not have a lot of chances to put the game to bed, but the frustration was with the CK Vineeth penalty incident. Having seen the incident, I thought it was a clear penalty. If we converted that we could have won the game. “

Speaking on Vineeth’s performance, the Englishman seemed pleased with his forward and admitted that he deserved a starting spot over Matej Poplatnik. “CK has been training like a guy that wants to start football matches. He deserved to score the goal. He was heavily influential against ATK and he deserved to start today’s game. It had nothing to do with Matej. I just felt confident that CK was going to be our man and it was the correct decision.”

From the visitor’s end, Josep Gombau shared his thoughts on the game. The Spaniard bemoaned his side’s missed opportunities, but was still pleased to come away with a point. “Well, it was a very difficult game playing away. But yes, in the first half, we had chances. Apart from that, I think both teams had chances. But yes, to come here and win one point is a good result.”

Lallianzuala Chhangte had another good outing for the Lions and was awarded the ‘Emerging Player of the Match’. Gombau had some warm words for the budding youngster who continues to improve himself each week, “He is a very good player. He is very young with a lot of room for improvement. We are working very hard with him. I think in time, he can become one of the best wingers in India.”

Click here to read the match report.