Hyderabad FC and NorthEast United FC played out a 0-0 draw in Match 86 of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21 at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco in Sunday’s second match. Hyderabad FC head coach Manuel Marquez was happy with the performance of his players and also commended the opponent defenders for keeping his team’s attackers at bay.

“They defended very well. Both Dylan [Fox] and [Benjamin] Lambot played a very good game. Sometimes you can play well but sometimes it can be impossible. I am happy with the effort of my players but I think we needed something more if we wanted to win the game,” Marquez said at the post-match press conference.

Marquez believes that his team were able to control NorthEast United’s high pressing game but in doing so, it took some of the sting off their attack. “The rhythm for both the teams was very slow. I think that 0-0 is a fair score. It is one of those days when we didn’t play with a lot of freedom. In all their [NorthEast United] previous games, they played with a high press and very fast transition when they recovered the ball. We controlled this very well but sometimes when you take care of such details, you cannot attack [the way they wanted],” the Spanish head coach said.

Watch Manuel Marquez's Post-Match Press conference here:

Meanwhile, NorthEast United FC interim head coach Khalid Jamil was content with a point considering that they were playing against a good team. “We were thinking about getting a positive result. We tried and we got many chances as well. Talking about the game, it was a good performance. We played against a good team who are also doing a good job. We are happy to get one point but we would have been happier to get the three points,” he said.

Jamil also heaped praise on some of the Indian players that featured for the Highlanders on the night. Nim Dorjee was brought into the starting XI in the absence of the suspended Ashutosh Mehta. Lalrempuia Fanai also returned to the starting XI after missing out due to injury. “Two matches ago Nim [Dorjee] and Provat [Lakra] started and played well. Nim is playing his third match so he was confident of playing in place of Ashutosh. Lakra also did a good job. Fanai also did a good job playing alongside Lalengmawia,” he said.

Watch Khalid Jamil's Post-Match Press conference here: