ISL 2022-23: 'Hyderabad FC won in a tough stadium' - Manolo Marquez after trumping Kerala Blasters
By Ayush Gupta | First Published Feb 27, 2023, 11:36 AM ISTISL 2022-23: Matchweek 22 ended on Sunday, as Kerala Blasters hosted Hyderabad FC. However, the latter gave a surprisingly decent performance to win 1-0. Meanwhile, HFC boss Manolo Marquez admitted it was a victory in a challenging venue.
Hyderabad FC (HFC) proved why it was the defending champion when it came up with intelligent gameplay in the final league-stage game of the 2022-23 Indian Super League (ISL). Taking on Kerala Blasters (KBFC) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday, the visitors ran away with a 1-0 success, consolidating its second-place finish in the league table.
The tie was redundant as both sides had already ensured their playoff berth. In the meantime, HFC head coach Manolo Marquez admitted that he was delighted with the kind of performance his boys put up, which displayed the winning spirit, especially at a venue where it is hugely challenging for the visitors to get the job done.
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"We won in a tough stadium. It's fantastic. It's marvellous to play in front of all these Kerala people. The team was okay, Kerala was fifth, and we were second before the game. I know it was not a fantastic game, but we needed to play a game with this spirit we showed today. In the last game, we conceded easy goals. Today was a good performance. We're thrilled with the win," Marquez stated after the triumph.
Meanwhile, explaining the loss, KBFC manager Ivan Vukomanovic remarked that the last pass on every attack was premature, leading to the failure. "We wanted to be a dominant side. We tried to play football and create something because our defence also likes to see that. We knew before the game that it'd be around one goal [in the scoreline] because Hyderabad FC conceded the least number of goals this season. We know we were facing a team with the tough organisation, and [it plays] physical football," he assessed.
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