The Boss Discusses A Tough Away Win And How The Game Changed In The Second Half…
Top of the table Bengaluru FC notched their second successive win on the road, coming from behind to hand FC Pune City at 3-1 defeat at the Balewadi Stadium last night. While the hosts took the lead in the first half, the Blues’ fightback in the second half was aided by Baljit Sahni’s sending off in the 55th minute. Albert Roca’s tactical shifts worked like a charm as the Blues then went on to score thrice with Miku getting a double before Sunil Chhetri’s late goal. We sat down with the Boss, who discussed the crucial moments from the game.
On the importance of the win…
We are happy about the win because we know how difficult it is to play away from home. FC Pune City had a very good first half as they didn’t allow us to play our natural game. We started much better in the second half and things were quite different after the red card because we took control of the game. We have a very talented squad and we took advantage of the situation. Some teams struggle even against ten men, but I think we managed it very well. We created some good chances, and I’m happy that we took them. It’s three more important points as we move forward.
On first half chances…
We started with two foreign players in attack but it’s also important to build up from midfied. I think Pune did a very good job to not let us start the way we wanted. We were aware of this but we have to be better in these situations, learn and improve in the next games.
On the officials’ handling of red card situations in games…
You can see that sometimes we can take advantage of a situation or at times it goes against us. I think it was a shame what happened in our game in Goa, because it was a goalkeeper who got sent off. We were punished for the mistake, and now it was Pune with the second yellow card. And yes, it changed the situation for us. But you also need to know how to manage such situations as I said before. I think Toni and Edu came into the game focused on what we had to do and they did a very good job. The boys showed resolve in a tough situation and it paid off.
On whether the sending off was lucky for the Blues…
These are circumstances that are bound to happen in a game. I don’t know whether to call it luck or not. But sometimes it may help, sometimes it goes against us. But what is important is to fight and learn from these things. I have told my goalkeeper to stay focused from now on, but we are humans at the end of the day. For the first goal, it was a tactical mistake, something that we have discussed many times. But it happens. We’re looking to work hard and keep improving. We play our next game in just three days, and we’re looking forward to it.
