Bengaluru FC moved to the top of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 table with a thumping 4-1 victory over Delhi Dynamos at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. Scoring a clinical first-half brace, Erik Paartalu was the ‘Hero of the Match’ as Bengaluru stamped their authority on the league. Speaking to indiansuperleague.com after the match, Erik shared his thoughts on the game. Here are the excerpts.

Two games into the league and six goals scored. How well does that feel?

Yes, the boys are passing. We worked hard on the set-pieces and that paid off again tonight. We are a little bit upset that we conceded a goal and that is something we have to work on. Trying and keeping clean-sheets and scoring four goals is a pretty big plus.

How does it feel to play on a team where you got goal scorers all around the pitch?

Makes my job hell of a lot easier. As soon as the ball goes forward, we get a great chance of scoring goals and we know if this team creates chances, we are going to score. We scored four goals tonight and hope that in the next game, we score better.

With three away games next on the trot, how will that make a difference to your approach?

It makes a huge difference as you can see so far. The away teams struggle to travel. It is something for us to be ready for. We are going to recover well as the next game is on Thursday and we have to be at our best. So nothing will change for now from our end and mentally we have to be strong.

Since you had the AFC Cup campaign, do you think that made a difference to your team’s chemistry as opposed to the other teams?

Yes, it is an advantage, but it is an advantage you have only for so long. I predict for some weeks we will have an advantage - fitness wise and togetherness. But teams are starting to gel now and Delhi was a great side tonight and they knocked the ball around really well. So for us, it’s just about trying and pushing on.

The fans were shouting your name! Any message for them?

They’re fantastic! As soon as I stepped off the plane, they welcomed me and I hope I paid some of their faith tonight.