Hyderabad FC were beaten by a solitary Bengaluru FC goal in their Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 encounter at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday. The bottom-placed side were unable to score the equaliser after Nishu Kumar’s opener as Gurpreet Singh Sandhu proved to be a complete wall in front of goal, saving Marko Stankovic’s penalty before going on to make more crucial saves later on.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, interim head coach Javier Gurri Lopez shared his views on the defeat, “I am very proud of my team. It’s not easy to play in Bengaluru and we played very well, especially in the first half. We controlled the ball and we played a good brand of attacking football. In the second half, we lost control of the game. Bengaluru had two or three clear chances, but I think our team is a believer. We believed until the last minute and in the last minute, we had a great chance. I am proud with our job.”

The Spaniard was also appreciative of Nikhil Poojary’s efforts, with the wide man doubling up as a winger after playing most of Hyderabad’s matches as a fullback. He said, “Poojary can play in every position except as a goalkeeper. His attitude is very positive. In the first half, he played as a winger. He has been good in one-on-one situations. In the second half towards the end, we tried to play with three defenders, five midfielders and two strikers. I think he got tired so he could not arrive at the final line on time, but he played a great game.”

Read the Match Report here.