ISL 2018-19: Josep Gombau – We should have got a penalty

Delhi Dynamos started their Indian Super League (ISL) season five with a 1-1 draw against FC Pune City on Wednesday evening at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi.

A wonder strike from Rana Gharami handed Delhi the lead in the first half but Diego Carlos’ late equaliser sealed a point for the visitors.

On naming Rana Gharami ahead of Martin Crespi in defence, Dynamos coach Josep Gombau said, “It is a long league. We have a lot of matches. So I decided to field Gianni (Zuiverloon) and Rana (Gharami) as central defenders. (Martin) Crespi is obviously a very good player and he will have his chances as the season progresses. In the next few weeks, From October 17th onwards we have continuous matches. So everybody will get chances. I am satisfied with Gianni and Rana’s performance.”

On asked if he was disappointed by the draw, Gombau replied, “In the first 20 minutes, we didn’t play to our potential. But after that we played well. From the beginning of the second half, we had the control of the game. We created a lot of chances. In football, if you don’t score in one transition then the other team can come at you and this is what happened. We got chances to score the second goal but did not take it. And Pune also got chances and they scored. It was a good game for the spectators. I am happy with the result.”

The Spaniard, however, rued midfielder Bikramjeet Singh’s injury. He said, “Bikramjeet (Singh) is a big loss for us. It is bad when you lose a player due to injury.”

Delhi striker Andrija Kaluderovic put in an underwhelming performance and the former Barcelona ‘B’ coach chose to see the positives. “He (Adrija Kaluderovic) is a striker and people always measure a striker’s performance with goals. I think he did well and worked a lot. He had a couple of chances to score and missed. This happens. Next week, if he has the chances he will score.”

He further added, “Kaluderovic also created chances. I am satisfied with everyone’s performance. We dominated in the second half.

"In the last minute, I thought it was a penalty. It was a handball inside the penalty box. It should have been a penalty.

"I’ll take the positives from this match and analyse and work hard so that the next game is even better.”