Kibu Vicuna: Hopefully this win becomes a turning point in our season

The Kochi outfit's head coach could not contain his smile as he interacted with the media following the win against Jamshedpur.

Kerala Blasters registered their second win of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2020-21 season on Sunday, by beating Jamshedpur FC 3-2 at the Tilak Maidan in Goa. Jordan Murray scored a brace for Kibu Vicuna and his team while defender Costa Nhamoinesu netted the third goal. It was Nerijus Valskis who scored both the goals for the Men of Steel.

Speaking after the game, the Yellow Army's head coach could not contain his smile, as he commented on various aspects regarding his team and their performance. The tactician said that their strong winning belief may have played a crucial role in the result.

Kerala Blasters' performance

"We believed that we could win the match. We knew we could fight well and get the three points against Jamshedpur FC today," Vicuna said. "We started well and scored the first goal. Then they equalized, but soon we had another chance to go ahead just before half-time.

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"The second half, I felt was pretty even. Lalruatthara's second yellow card made things a bit difficult for us because we had to play the rest of the game with just 10 men. But, we should character to win the match and we proved that we are a very competitive team. I am very happy that we could win and get the three points today," he further added.

Reasons for win

The 48-year-old explained that both the team's character and the quality of their gameplay helped them register their second victory of the campaign.

"Both factors helped. We also created a lot of good chances to score. As you know, Costa scored one goal and Jordan scored the other two. Before the game, we prepared for it as much as possible. We did a lot of analysis on the key aspects of the match, worked on the formation and so on," he revealed.

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Quality of gameplay

Although this was only the second win this season for the Yellow Army, Vicuna felt that Sunday was not the first time when the side played good football. "In some of our previous matches, we played better football in some parts. However, we were not able to dominate the entire game on those occasions," he explained.

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"Tonight we were much more competitive and I think that made a difference. We were very competitive against a team that is tough to beat. They have one of the best strikers in the league and they are also very good from set-pieces. So, this win gives me a lot of satisfaction." The tactician also clarified that substituting Sahal Abdul Samad for Rahul KP was a tactical decision. "Taking off Sahal was a tactical decision. We scored one more goal afterwards, so I think it worked," he commented.

What win means

"In every match so far, we tried to win but at the other end we always had another team who was also trying to do the same thing. So far we were unable to get many positive results, so today is the day to enjoy," Kibu Vicuna said.

"Let us congratulate the team for the performance that they displayed today. Apart from the three points, this win will also restore a lot of faith and belief in the team. I myself believe in my team and I think we can play good football and get good results. Hopefully, this win becomes a turning point in our season," he signed off.

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