Delhi Dynamos head coach Gianluca Zambrotta cut a satisfied figure following his team’s 0-0 draw against Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday. The Dynamos now have four points from two matches and lie third in the table and speaking to the media after the match that witnessed a 55,000-strong crowd, Zambrotta said: “We played very strong throughout the 90 minutes in midfield, our players kept running throughout the game. Considering the match and the atmosphere I feel my team did their best.”

“The philosophy is taking one match at a time… We hope to do better in the next game.”

In one of the surprising moves, Zambrotta started the match with Badara Badji instead of Richard Gadze. When asked to explain his decision that he made in favour of one of two goal-scorers for Delhi in their win against Chennaiyin FC, the 39-year-old said: “I chose a different striker because the chosen striker was a bit taller and stronger.

“Every game you have to keep changing your plans, today we didn’t score but we played well and the score was 0-0.”

Delhi’s marquee player Florent Malouda also made his first start this season for the Lions and Zambrotta was happy with the Frenchman’s performance that saw him register more touches (62) than any other player from Delhi. “Malouda played in midfield like a captain should and he played his role very well. Malouda himself is very happy about the match,” Zambrotta said.

Zambrotta also provided a fitness update on defender Anas Edathodika who injured himself in Delhi’s first match against the Super Machans. “At the moment we don’t know the correct status. We'll be leaving for Delhi tomorrow and we would know once our doctor reports the results. We'll have to wait for a few days for confirmation.”

Meanwhile, Delhi winger Kean Lewis was all praise for Kerala fans who came to the stadium in large numbers. “I think the crowd was great, it's great to see such support for football, it is tough to play under such conditions, we were also playing our second game in four days and our players were tired. We're happy with the game and the overall performance of the team,” Lewis said.