Chhiring Gurung satisfied with result, Sachin Badadhe disappointed with second half performance

The Warriors have drawn three straight AFC Cup games this season.

Minerva Punjab faced another blow to their AFC Cup hopes as they could only manage a 2-2 draw in their match against Manang Marshyangdi on Wednesday night. The visitors left it late, as Oluwawunmi Somide scored the equaliser and the Nepalese side earned their first AFC Cup point.

Speaking at the post-match press conference Manang Marshyangdi head coach Chhiring Gurung expressed his views on the game saying, " We wanted to go for a win but we quite happy with the first point we got."

Despite looking satisfied with the result, Gurung also rued the chances his side missed especially the penalty they missed in the first half.

"We created a lot of chances but could not capitalize on them. If o ly we had converted the penalty in the first half, the match was surely for our taking."

Gurung wasn't very pleased with the hot and humid weather in Bhubaneshwar as well as they were alien conditions for his side.

"The weather was also harsh on us, we are not used to in this kind of conditions," he added.

When questioned the turning point of the match, Chhiring Gurung quipped, "In the second half we substituted Olawalee as he was not performing well, and the change in strategy proved to be fruitful as we scored both the goals from thereon," he concluded.

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Minerva head coach Sachin Badadhe might have thought that after two draws this was the match where they were going to earn their first win in the AFC Cup. Sreyas Gopalan broke the deadlock in the 8th minute as Abhishek Rijal restored parity for Manang. But defender Kareem Omolaja scored from the spot at the 89th minute almost securing three points for the Warriors. But Nigerian forward Oluwaunmi Somide came up with a 90th-minute equaliser denying the Indian side their first win in the competition.

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Badadhe was disappointed with the result as he criticised the way his team reacted to the situation and allowed the visitors to take control of the game in the dying majority of the second half.

"We got the first goal and we also created a lot of chances. Our problem today was we let Manang control the play and that cost us the match", Badhadhe concluded.