ISL 2018-19: "Delhi's first win will bring a smile to the players' faces," says Josep Gombau
Delhi Dynamos finally registered their first win of the Indian Super League season as they emerged 3-1 victors over defending champions Chennaiyin FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.
Goals from Daniel Lalhlimpuia in the first half and Bikramjit Singh and Nandhakumar Sekar in the second proved too much for Chennaiyin, who suffered more home misery. The result leaves Chennai still without a home win this season.
Delhi coach Josep Gombau was very pleased with the result and said after the match: “I think it was very important for us this win. It's our first win. To go into the break with this feeling is good.”
Gombau felt his team fully deserved the win.
“We deserve to win with the kind of football we played. Today we win. It’s good for the players' confidence.”
He also spoke about how this is a long-term project for him and the club. “It’s just a game, nothing big, but it will bring a smile to the players. There are a lot of young players in the team. Good for them. Sometimes you need results to prove that they are working well," said Gombau.
Despite the team being near the bottom of the table in the league, Gombau expressed hope that the win would serve as preparation for a good second half and a successful cup run.
“The goal of our club is to win our remaining games. To have a strong and competitive team. The Super Cup will be a trophy we would target.”
He stressed repeatedly on the importance of time to get the squad right.
“We have three more months to develop the team. This project is a long-term project.”
Gombau also praised the progress of two of his goalscorers – Nandha and Daniel – who he revealed had come to pre-season training injured.
“I think they have developed a lot. They joined us just two weeks before the start. They came injured from their national U-23 duty. They were initially only doing rehab then started training.”
“It seems very far away but this was two months ago. Since then, they have improved very well. So I’m very happy with them," he finished.