After defeating Chennaiyin FC by 2-0 in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Sunday, Hyderabad FC head coach Manuel Marquez said they deserved the victory following four successive draws in the competition.
Goals from Fran Sandaza (28') and Joel Chianese (82') were enough to secure all three points for the Nizams and propel them to third place on the table.
"Too many people say that draws are nothing but I do not agree, draws are better than losing. After so many draws we eventually had to win. We needed this win and we deserved this because in the last four games we were closer to winning the games than our opponents," Marquez after the match.
The Hyderabad coach further added that Chennaiyin had more time to prepare for the game.
"Chennaiyin are a team who always have chances. I told my players that in the first phase when we met we were the two teams with the most number of chances in the entire league," Marquez said.
"Maybe they failed to score some clear cut chances but the most important thing is they played a game after six days while we played in less than three days. The second half was very long for us and the second goal practically sealed the match," he added.
Chennaiyin came out of the half-time break with a couple of changes -- Fatkhulo Fatkhulloev and Edwin Vanspaul came on for Germanpreet Singh and Thoi Singh -- and the move looked to have paid off immediate dividends. Eli Sabia came up all the way from defence and found himself with direct sight on goal. His powerful shot from outside the box looked to be going in, but instead struck the crossbar and bounced away.
The crossbar once again came to Hyderabad's rescue and this time, it substituted Fatkhulloev's turn to rue what should have been a goal.
Hyderabad will now take on NorthEast United FC on February 7.
( With inputs from ANI )
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