Bengaluru FC moved to the summit of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 thanks to a comfortable 3-1 win over Mumbai City FC at the Mumbai Football Arena on Thursday. The Blues’ skipper Sunil Chhetri scored a brace for the side, while their top-scorer of the campaign Miku got their third of the night shortly after the hour-mark.

The Blues’ head coach Albert Roca spoke of his delight after their disappointing loss to Delhi Dynamos FC in their last outing. “We just wanted to turn things around as quick as possible (after the loss in the previous game). We played a good game and I am happy,” he told the media at the post-match press conference before admitting it was a tough encounter. “It was not an easy game. I think we were playing with focus from the beginning. Step by step we grew into the game and after the goals, it became easier. But again, it is not a game that is easy and for sure, not against Mumbai.

Roca, however, was disappointed not to have kept a clean sheet following Leo Costa’s goal in the 76^th minute. ”It’s a shame though that we could not manage to secure a clean sheet. But then they have very good players as you can see. In my eyes, two years ago, some of the best players played in the second division and now they are top players. I think my team was better and we did the job well. I am really happy for the team,” he said.

Bengaluru broke the deadlock after Chhetri found the back of the net from the spot. When commenting on the Bengaluru captain’s spot-kick, Roca said: “That moment (the penalty) I think we were able to manage the situation very well because we created such a situation from such positions. You know the defenders will tackle when you are playing close to the box. So, this is a referee’s decision, which I am yet to see. In Delhi, we conceded a penalty, which I don’t think was one. But I don’t think we won the match because of the penalty we got. I think it is because we were superior in our game today.”

When asked if he had told his players to do anything different in the second half, the Spaniard replied: “I didn’t change anything. I asked the players to keep playing as they were playing because it wasn’t the moment to change anything. When they scored the goal, it was a dangerous moment, because you never know when they may score the second and then close in. When Leo Costa came, they started playing better and we had to make some changes there. We had to take out one of the strikers and rotate the midfield positions. But in the end, we managed to hold on.”