NorthEast United FC continued their strong start to Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21 with a 2-0 victory over SC East Bengal at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco on Saturday, and head coach Gerard Nus, speaking at the post-match press conference, said his team deserved all three points even though SC East Bengal look threatening all through the match.

“We definitely deserved to get these three points. We did many good things but we have to keep working. It is just the beginning of the season and we are building a team, and I'm completely convinced that we had a great performance.”

The Spaniard also heaped praise on his young winger Ninthoinganba Meetei, fondly known as Ninthoi, who created the chance that led to his side’s opening goal in the 33^rd minute. “Ninthoi is a player who represents the future of India. He is a great example of a player who is good in attack and is improving defensively as well. He is an amazing player,” he said.

NorthEast face Bengaluru FC, another unbeaten team in the league, in their next game on December 8 at the Fatorda Stadium. “Now that we have a really short time to get ready for the next match. We are playing against Bengaluru which is another massive challenge,” Nus said looking ahead to the match against Carles Cuadrat’s side.

Meanwhile, SC East Bengal head coach Robbie Fowler opined that although his team was not up to the mark in terms of putting the ball in the back of the net, they created really good chances and should have won the game. “It is when you have lost a couple of games. Tonight was our worst performance in terms of the games we have played so far. But we still should have won the game. We know that we have got something to work with. We have lacked a little bit in the final third but we will get it right,” he said.

With three defeats in three games, SC East Bengal are the only side that is yet to open their account in Hero ISL 2020-21. “We are massively disappointed with the result, but we can take something out of the match. We played okay but we lost the game so that’s all that matters,” Fowler said.

Despite an unfavourable result, the Englishman spoke highly of midfielder Sehnaj Singh, who made his first start for SC East Bengal. Sehnaj created once chance, intercepted successfully once besides having an impressive passing accuracy of 70%. He also had 68 touches of the ball.  “Sehnaj played very well. We know what type of a player he is and we just wanted to see him playing in that position. He put in a performance that he can be proud of.”