Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 2 : Hyderabad FC head coach Thangboi Singto expressed his satisfaction after his team secured their first point of the 2024-25 Indian Super League (ISL) season, saying that the team earned a well-deserved point after earning a clean sheet.
The Yellow and Black showcased great determination in grinding out a well-earned point against Chennaiyin FC at the GMC Athletic Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday in a goalless-draw.
Hyderabad FC battled evenly with Chennaiyin FC, who were eager to bounce back with three points after their previous defeat, but the home side refused to back down. Even after being reduced to ten men for the final 20 minutes, their defence held strong, ensuring they got their first point of the season.
"I do not have any specific player to pinpoint today because each one of them, starting from the goalkeeper to the defence to the midfield to the strikers, they did their job. And I think it is a well-deserved point and a clean sheet. I am happy for the team," Singto stated in the post-match press conference, as quoted by an ISL press release.
Hyderabad FC are steadily finding their rhythm and are expected to become more synchronised in the matches ahead. However, one issue that might trouble the head coach is that they have finished with ten men in both their previous game and today's match.
When asked about his players receiving red cards, he emphasised the need for greater discipline, stating, "I think one thing is about tiredness because I think at the moment 99.9 per cent of our players are maybe good enough for 60 minutes. And after that, I think that is where your mind says something and your body says something. That sync, that coordination is not there. That is why you tend to make mistakes."
"But, Leander (D'Cunha) is not a newbie in the ISL. Parag (Shrivas) is not a newbie, so I think they have to take more responsibility because we need them at this moment with their experience in the team, and they're both defenders. On the other side, a first-time mistake, no problem. We have one coming back and one going out for suspension (in the next game). But overall, I think we will just have a chat with them and hopefully, this will not happen again," Singto added.
New recruit Serbian defender Stefan Sapic teamed up with Captain Alex Saji in defence, and both exhibited a strong performance as Hyderabad FC recorded their first clean sheet of the season, effectively neutralising their foreign striker Daniel Chima Chukwu.
Reflecting on his team's performance, especially the two centre-backs, Singto said, "Having Alex and Sapic today, I think really sort of somewhat neutralised Chima because they were really onto him, and both our No. 6, Lenny (Rodrigues) and Isaac (Vanmalsawma) supporting them, and the No. 7 and No. 11 coming and getting more compact in the midfield really helped us to win the second balls."
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