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The Spaniard praised the performance of his defenders as they kept yet another clean-sheet at home…
Bengaluru FC registered their second victory in the sixth season of the Indian Super League (ISL) as they downed Kerala Blasters 1-0 at the Kanteerava Stadium on Saturday.
Sunil Chhetri scored the winner as he headed home from a corner-kick with Kerala failing to keep a check on him.
“We know that they are a good opponent and they are going to be at their best because they were with a lot of supporters and also in a risky position on the table. So it’s normal.
“The game is for 90 minutes and the way we play, we knew we were going to have chances to win the game. It was a normal football game with a lot of passion and very entertaining for the supporters to watch. And as always when you score the first goal, you get some advantage,” said coach Carles Cuadrat.
The Blues should have been 1-0 ahead in the first half when Raphael Augusto volleyed home an Udanta cross. However, the linesman, who wasn’t in line, deemed that the ball had gone out of play before Udanta crossed it into the box.
“We are all professionals and we are all doing our job. We scored the goal in set-piece because we work hard on that in the training. So I cannot understand why you raise the flag if you are not 100 percent sure. This is happening week after week. I don’t want to talk about referees but we need to improve,” opined the Spaniard.
Cuadrat was questioned on whether he was surprised to find the Bengaluru FC skipper unmarked in a set-piece situation.
“I am not surprised about that. All the teams study us. We have a lot of different players. For every different situation, we have a plan. All the teams are playing against the champions. So each match brings a new problem. All the teams are playing with a lot of intensity and we have to keep trying our best and win every match. It is a short league and therefore, we have to be at our best,” he stated.
Bengaluru FC are known for playing out from the back however, Kerala’s high press in the first half did cause them trouble on a few occasions.
“We have to improve in reading particular moments of the match. My players didn’t realize that the high press was a problem for us. But during the half-time, we talked about it and in the second half, it changed.
“When we win 1-0 with a set-piece goal, it is a gift for the hard work that we put in training. The players are doing a very good tactical job. We love attacking football and everyone keeps praising them but I want to equally praise our defenders who are doing a fantastic job at the back. I am happy about the clean sheet and hopefully, it makes us stronger.”
Cuadrat was forced to make a change to his starting eleven as Rahul Bheke picked up a knock during the international break.
“It is not about finding the best eleven but to take advantage of the players that we have with us. The injury of Manuel (Onwu) and Bheke prompted us to adjust and yet we gave our best performance. This season we have more players helping us than last season. There are a lot of versatile players, Indian players and that helps us a lot.
“We tried to find space behind Kerala’s defence as we really have fast players. We are working really well and in a 90 minutes match when the opposition is tiring, we have players who can take advantage of that,” signed off Cuadrat.
Bengaluru FC will be back in action on Friday when they play hosts to Hyderabad FC.
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