Bengaluru FC continued their brilliant start to Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2018-19 with an impressive 2-1 win over ATK at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Wednesday. The Blues came back from a goal down to beat the home side with Miku and Erik Paartalu getting on the scoresheet.

At the post-match press conference, Bengaluru head coach, Carles Cuadrat spoke about how important it was that Miku scored their equaliser on the brink of half-time. “I think it was great for us to score before half-time. It was very, very important. It was part of my talking at half-time. I was even thinking of making some substitutions. I wasn’t happy with the game. But, one characteristic from our player with a very good kick, changed the moment. We were prepared for the second half and we scored again, so it was a different game then. So, the goal was crucial,” he said.

The Spaniard was also highly impressed with his team’s defensive solidity while protecting their lead. “I think that today was a very good match for us. We had to plan out the game because we had to fight a lot to get the three points. It was a team that was demanding a lot of concentration and to be very focused in defence. They have a lot of quality and any little mistake in the defence could have given them the advantage,” Cuadrat opined.

The 50-year-old concluded the conference by sharing his thoughts on his team’s upcoming games and even had some kind words for Bengaluru’s next opponents, he said: “There are two exciting games (up next). We have to work, and we have to suffer because they are very good teams, Kerala and Goa. I think that we have good preparation for that, I coach my guys and they suffer a lot to keep these points. So, let’s see what we can do.”

Cuadrat’s opposite number, Steve Coppell, was present at the press conference from ATK’s side and began by highlighting the mistakes made his side. “They are very inventive on set-pieces and obviously they have a couple of quality players. We were aware of that before the game. We didn’t want to give silly fouls. We had a very specific game-plan to the start the game and we got our noses in front from Komal’s (Thatal) terrific goal,” Coppell said before going on to add: “We lost Kalu which was a big loss, who is very important for our play. Right at half-time we gave away a silly free-kick and it was a terrific strike. The second (goal) was really disappointing because that’s something we pride ourselves on with regards to our organisation.”

Despite being on the losing side though Coppell was delighted with his team’s effort, but felt they deserved more from the game. “At 2-1 down I thought the players showed great spirit, effort and ability. We had a couple of chances, we had a couple of things flashing inside the box. I felt as if we deserved something from the game, but football is a cruel game sometimes. And we feel very disappointed after the match,” he added.

Click here to read the match report