Bengaluru FC returned to the top of the table with a commanding 3-0 victory over FC Goa at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday. The Blues were reduced to 10-men towards the end of the first half with Nishu Kumar receiving his second yellow card. But the side fought back valiantly with goals from Juanan, Udanta Singh and Miku. 

At the post-match conference, Bengaluru head coach Carles Cuadrat was delighted with his team’s attitude in the second half. “The boys did a great job. They were working a lot and they showed a lot of heart. I told them to be together and help each other to try and create spaces with Miku and Udanta. The boys made the magic happen. Nobody thought that the game would finish 3-0. But things happen. We have been conceding so many goals in the past three matches but today we received a clean sheet in the worst circumstances with one player less. It was a crazy game and we loved it,” he said. 

Talking about his side’s mentality after Nishu was sent off, Cuadrat said: “The team was under a lot of pressure because of the results. We are a winning team and we have lost very few games. So, when you lose two games in a row, you need to explain to the players that we are in this kind of situation. Maybe the red card was the turning point in the game. Maybe they felt that they had to fight to get a point and, in the end, we got three.” 

The absence of Sunil Chhetri and Erik Paartalu made the victory all the more impressive. With Chhetri poised to return to the squad for the next match, Cuadrat welcomed the resulting selection headache he would face. “I love those kinds of problems. I have to say that all of them have been giving a lot. They were with one player less so it was important to keep the ball. I am also very happy with Luis Lopez because he has arrived late and not in his best physical moment. We lose intensity when we don’t have Erik but they put they do the things that they have to do and we get the three points." 

From Goa’s end, head coach Sergio Lobera was evidently disappointed with his side’s performance despite having a one-man advantage for the entire second half. “I think the fact that Bengaluru being one man down was bad for us. I believe we got overconfident because we thought it was going to be easier. I think since I’ve become manager of FC Goa, the last 45 minutes was the worst I have seen. We lost the ball and we gave them good chances to recover. The first goal we conceded from a set-piece which was a big mistake. After the second goal came, we did not have many chances to get back in the game,” he remarked. 

Click here to read the match report.