Sreenidi Deccan's Faysal Shayesteh certain that the title race is still wide open | I-League 2023-24 

One of the biggest reasons behind Sreenidi Deccan's success in the I-League over the last couple of seasons has been their acquisition of the services of Faysal Shayesteh.

The Kabul-born elegant attacking midfielder practically grew up in the Netherlands and has been at the forefront of most things that the Deccan Warriors have done since he arrived at the club last season.

Shayesteh also provided the assist to David Castaneda's header in just the third minute of their game against Mohammedan SC at the Deccan Arena in Hyderabad on Thursday, which they eventually drew 1-1 owing to a late equalizer by the visitors' Mohammed Jassim.

Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, the midfield maestro felt that drawing a game that you led till the 84th minute was quite frustrating.

"Yes, if you play these kinds of games and score very early and are 1-0 till the last six minutes, and yet miss out on winning the game, it is quite frustrating. You put so much of hard work behind it and to not get the three points feels sad and frustrating," said Shayesteh.

When asked what he felt was the reason behind the Deccan Warriors not scoring a second goal despite being in the ascendancy for most of the game, Shayesteh felt that the Black Panthers' high press was largely responsible for it.

"In the second half, we were losing a lot of second balls in midfield. Mohammedan tried to push us onto the backline and were pressing high. That's why we had some difficulties and could not adapt quickly. I think that cost us a lot of energy as well. That may well have been a reason why we did not get the second goal," he added.

"The scheduling is not in our hands and we don't have much time ahead of our next game" - Faysal Shayesteh

Shayesteh has been extremely impressive for Sreenidi over the last couple of seasons.

Although head coach Carlos Vaz Pinto made a few tactical changes and brought in substitutes in the second half of the game, Sreenidi did seem like they were flagging towards the final ten minutes.

This may have been because they had played against Namdhari FC hardly three days before this match while their opponents enjoyed a nice 12-day break between games.

The Deccan Warriors hardly have a respite from the juggernaut of the I-League as they now prepare to face fourth-placed Real Kashmir at home on Monday, 4 March.

"That is a good point. I did not think about it but now that you mention it, I feel that fatigue may have had a role. Being fresh is always important but we have to keep going. The scheduling is not in our hands and we don't have much time ahead of our next game. We need to get a win against Real Kashmir, who are a good team," said Shayesteh.

This clash between Sreenidi and Mohammedan was billed as the title decider given that the Kolkata giants were ranked at the top coming into it and the former were ranked second.

At the end of the evening, both teams gained a point each and retained their respective spots in the league table.

As for whether he feels that the title race is still wide open despite the drawn encounter played out at the Arena, Shayesteh was affirmative in his response.

"You saw that Gokulam Kerala lost against Namdhari on Thursday. This competition is very different and anybody can win against anybody. I feel that the title race is wide open, and we can still get there," he signed off.