Kerala Blasters FC secured a 2-0 victory over Hyderabad FC thanks to goals from Abdul Hakku and Jordan Murray at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Sunday night. Kerala Blasters were playing without the seasoned trio of Costa Nhamoinesu, Bakary Kone and Gary Hooper, and at the post-match press conference, head coach Kibu Vicuna expressed his satisfaction with the performance of the players who were given a chance in their absence.  

“They have different injuries and they were not ready to play tonight. But I am very happy with the performances of Abdul Hakku, Sandeep (Singh) and Jordan (Murray). They played very well. I am satisfied because we played well against a team that is playing very well this season. We played a good match and we deserved to win tonight.

“We are happy because in the last 2-3 weeks, we are training better and we are seeing the results of these [training sessions],” Vicuna said after guiding Kerala to their first win of the season and condemning Hyderabad to their second defeat.

Vicuna’s tactics overpowered the Hyderabad team, who could not contain the press of the Kerala Blasters players. “It was important (to press high) because Hyderabad is a team that plays well from behind. We pressed well and created some difficulties for Hyderabad especially because they have good players playing from behind,” explained Vicuna.

Revealing what he told his players at the break leading 1-0, Vicuna said: “At the half time, we spoke about what we have to do, but we had to score the second goal because Hyderabad is a team that has good strikers and at the beginning of the second half, we had some good chances but we managed to score at the end of the game [in the 88^th minute]. I think we deserved the win tonight.”

Meanwhile, Hyderabad FC head coach Manuel Marquez was disappointed with the attitude of his players. “We lost because the players of Kerala Blasters FC played with better attitude. If the attitude of the players is [not up to the mark], it’s impossible to win. Especially in the opening minutes, they showed a better attitude than our team.

“We had very clear chances but only because of their attitude, they deserve to win. But this kind of thing happens in football …I am disappointed with the attitude of the players in the first 20-25 minutes,” said Marquez.