ISL 2019 | 'Great' Bengaluru were big challenge, claims Cesar Ferrando
Despite being content with a draw, Jamshedpur head coach Cesar Ferrando was quick to call out his defence for their performance against Bengaluru yesterday. BFC head coach Carles Cuadrat admitted that it was a very good game for the fans but pointed out that his team needs to stop making mistakes.
A late equalizer in the stoppage time from Sergio Cidoncha, along with a dazzling goal from the young debutant Gourav Mukhi, saw Jamshedpur FC hold Bengaluru FC to a 2-2 draw at the Kanteerava on Sunday. Bengaluru took the lead twice through skipper Sunil Chhetri and Nishu Kumar, but they were pegged back on both occasions. The Kanteerava has been a torrid place for many a team over the years and was one of the main reasons for Bengaluru making it all the way to the final last year as such the Jamshedpur head coach was happy to come away with a point.
“We had a big challenge to play against Bengaluru. I think Bengaluru is a great team. We wanted to play together as a team and give them no space. We tried to control the game and from the start, we had to try our best and we managed a draw. But, I think, the score is good for us and I’m happy with my players,” Ferrando said during the post-match press conference.
However, the Spaniard was adamant that, despite the point, he was not happy with the defensive performance of his team. Bengaluru had created chances at will throughout the game and the woodwork had come to the visitor's rescue on multiple occasions.
“I’m not happy with that, we could’ve conceded thrice. We shouldn’t have conceded the second goal. You have to jump and try to defend it, but things happen in football. The first goal, I think, we defended the set-piece well, but for the second goal we should’ve been more alert,” he added.Â
While Jamshedpur might have seen the draw as a win, for the hosts it was a case of two points dropped. After the visitors had leveled proceeding in the 81st minute, Chhetri's goal two minutes from regulation time looked to have won it for Bengaluru. However,
“The last goal we conceded was because of the bounce. I think our players did a really good job defensively. If you see the game, we hit the post three or four times. I think we had chances to win the game by a bigger margin. We could have won 2-0 or 3-1, but we were only 1-1. So, this kind of things can happen,” the Bengaluru coach said.
“I told you before, they have a lot of Spanish players that are very good with the ball. It was the game we were expecting. Ferrando is a good champion at winning the ball. They have the option to play balls over the top. He told the players that it was important to score before, hence, it was a good result for us with 1-0. We had chances to score, but we didn’t. In such moments, anything can happen. We were trying to avoid that, but it can happen. Accidentally the ball arrived on the left side and they put the ball behind.
"We have to work to try and avoid it (mistakes), but sometimes it happens. For that, football is so wonderful. A lot of things you try to control and something suddenly happens which gives a lot of emotion to the game, to the players and also to the supporters. It was a very nice game to watch.”