Jamshedpur FC salvaged a crucial away point against Bengaluru FC in an exhilarating match that concluded in a 2-2 draw at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, all thanks to Sergio Cidoncha’s stoppage-time equaliser. Bengaluru skipper Sunil Chhetri and Nishu Kumar got on the scoresheet for the Blues, while Gourav Mukhi dazzled on his Hero ISL debut as he opened the scoring for the away side.

At the post-match press conference, Cesar Ferrando, head coach of Jamshedpur, shared his views on the game. “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.”

However, a club known last season for its defensive solidity missed much of that very charm on Sunday night. When asked how he perceives the defensive performance of his team, the Spaniard said, “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.”

From Bengaluru’s end, head coach Carles Cuadrat was present to address the media and shed some light on his team’s performance. “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, they had only three shots, out of which two resulted in goals. 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 49-year-old also voiced his opinion on his opponent coach’s style of play, while also sharing the areas where Bengaluru lacked prowess. “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. They have the option to play balls over the top. Ferrando 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.”

Speaking on the overall aspect of the match, Cuadrat remarked, “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.”