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Old foes Kerala Blasters and ATK faced off against each other at the iconic Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Thursday night, with both the sides sharing the spoils, as the ISL match ended with a 2-2 result.
New striker Gudjon Baldvinsson gave Kerala the early lead, before Ryan Taylor pulled it back in the first half. Meanwhile, Kerala marquee signing Dimitar Berbatov scored his first goal of for the Kochi-based side with a cracker of a half-volley from outside the area. However, that too was cancelled out by a Tom Thorpe header.
On that note, let's take a look at who said what, after the game.
David James:
We've had six tough games. This was the game that we needed to win. But the result is a bit frustrating. The draws have been frustrating. Drawing isn't really an option. We were the better side tonight. Look, football's a wonderful game. Winning is good, but you also need to know how much you need to win it.
It was a great header (by Tom Thorpe)! In one way, we put the team together in a way we normally play (despite the fact that Sandesh Jhingan was not available. The games are won with individual brilliance as well. All you can do is ensure that you put in 100% effort.
Dimitar Berbatov:
Its ok, scoring the first goal, but we should have won the game. Everybody wants to win.If you ask ATK they will say they dropped the point.
(On Hume's injury) That’s why you have a big squad. Someone gets injured, and someone else comes in. So that (Hume’s unavailability) shouldn’t be a problem.
Ashley Westwood:
We have a core of good players. Injuries have been our Achilles heel. We are a little fortunate, as we have 10 days before next game. Hopefully, we can turn things around. We playing attractively, playing quicker passes, moving the ball around. All we have to do is keep working hard, and hopefully, we will get the results.
Iain Hume:
It's hard to take (a long injury) when you’re 34, but I promise you that I’ll be back. We have a great medical team working behind us.
(On Kerala and ATK fans) It's tough saying it when I’m in Salt Lake (Stadium), but our (Kerala) fans are the best in the league. The fans got behind us (when we were not playing well). they got behind me too at that point, and that makes a lot of difference.
Ryan Taylor:
I could be really proud of the team. It was a great game to play and we could have easily won it. That’s the story of how its been. We just haven’t scored as many goals. It only takes one. But today we showed great character. As a footballer, you want to win games. It may be irrelevant, but you don’t want to lose. We want to show the fans that we can win the matches and we don’t want to finish anywhere near the bottom.
