Bengaluru FC fell to their first home defeat of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18, as Chennaiyin FC edged them 2-1 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. Sunil Chhetri’s 85th-minute equaliser wasn’t enough to save the Blues from their second defeat of their debut season, as Jeje Lalpekhlua and Dhanpal Ganesh breached resolute defence.

In the post-match press conference, the home team’s head coach Albert Roca was met with the question as to why he made six changes to his starting lineup from their previous game, played on Thursday. “We played only three days ago, an important game in Pune so I had to manage the squad and try to put the players in better shape. Sometimes I can make things right sometimes not so good, but we have to keep fighting and do what’s better for the next game. This game helps me know what is better, to keep the same team or to make some changes,” he replied.

Even after Chhetri managed to equalise with an exquisite half-volley five minutes from full time, Ganesh nodded in the winning header just four minutes later. When asked what led to the conceding of the late goal, he said, “We made a mistake in the beginning and one mistake in the final (minute). We did have good chances in the first half such as Edu’s (Garcia) shot and in the beginning of the second half as well, we had a good opportunity to come back and put them in trouble. Without Juanan, we had to be more careful in set-pieces.”

Before leaving, the Spaniard also expressed his views on their opponents of the night. “They do have very tough players. With the first goals, things got easier for them. I didn’t expect to concede a goal that early. Even though we tried to manage the situation they were good on that and it cost too much for us to get back. But when we did, we forgot again that they are strong in set pieces and got punished. But it’s something to learn for me in the end and we have to look forward, be strong, know our errors and also thank our supporters for being there through thick and thin,” he concluded.