Bengaluru FC slumped to their second defeat against Mumbai City FC in Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 after going down 2-0 to the Islanders at the Mumbai Football Arena on Friday. To recall, the Blues were beaten 3-2 in the reverse fixture at the Sree Kanteerava back in December 2019.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Bengaluru head coach Carles Cuadrat addressed the two defensive mistakes which led to the goals and eventually cost his team the game. “We made a few mistakes, but sometimes this happens in football. As I said before the game, with Mumbai, if you concede, it becomes very difficult because they are very good defensively and they try to go for the counter-attack,” he said.

Adding to this, the Spaniard noted, “We gave them two presents, so congratulations to Mumbai. I don’t think it was a very good game of football. Mumbai knew what they had to do. We had a plan too but after it became 1-0, we had to change our plan and it was difficult for us to create chances.”

On Bengaluru’s apparent inability to get the better of the Islanders, Cuadrat opined, “I have tried different things against Mumbai. I have been trying to get all three points in every game against Mumbai, but it’s not happening. Sometimes this happens in football. We have been working on trying to change this, but it didn’t happen tonight. We are working hard to try and win every game.”

The 51-year-old also defended the tactical and personnel changes made by him for the match and stated, “Making changes is my responsibility. All these changes helped us lift the trophy last season. I accept the critics because it is a part of my job. But, one day I play Semboi (Haokip) and he scored. Another day I choose Udanta (Singh) and he creates chances. This is football; sometimes you do things that work and sometimes they don’t. I can tell anybody that Harmanjot Khabra can play as a right-back, Rahul Bheke can play as a left-back and Ashique Kuruniyan can play as a left-back with confidence. Such decisions are mine to make.”     

Read the Match Report here.