Bengaluru FC maintained their unbeaten start to Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2018-19 season thanks to a last-gasp equaliser that earned them a point away to NorthEast United FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday. Federico Gallego’s strike just after the hour mark looked to have sealed the win for the Highlanders, but an injury-time stunner by Bengaluru substitute Chencho Gyeltshen meant there was nothing to separate the two teams at fulltime.

The point keeps the Highlanders at second spot with 19 points from 10 matches. Despite ending Bengaluru’s staggering six-match winning run, the NorthEast boss, Eelco Schattorie was agitated by the final result and felt his team deserved maximum points. “I’m cooking from inside. I’m trying to calm down. If you look at the whole game, there’s only one team that should have won and that was us. Not because we created that much chances but because we were well organized against the best team in the league. They had one shot on goal that the goalkeeper saved. Before the game, I predicted that if we would lose it would be because of the set-piece or corner because they simply have more power in these things,” Schattorie bemoaned.

The impressive Provat Lakra sustained an injury late in the second half which seemed to turn the tide in the visitors’ favor. Schattorie revealed that he was not optimistic about the right-back’s injury ahead of a testing run of fixtures for his side. “Of course, it is another worry. We have to play ATK in two days. We now have five games in a row in a short time. I have a small squad. I have to deal with that. It is really difficult. As I said before, it is an accumulation of fatigue in travelling. Lakra was doing very well that’s why I changed him. Last week also he did very well but his injury doesn’t look good. So, I’m worried about that,” the Dutchman shared.

Bengaluru’s head coach, Carles Cuadrat, on the other hand, was satisfied with the final result. “Yes, I’m very happy with the team. I think we come here in a very difficult stadium with a very tough opponent and with some injuries in the team. We were very competitive and were working very well. Neither us or NorthEast created a lot of chances to score. So, it means both teams were doing a very good compact, defensive job. My players were doing what we had planned, trying to take advantage of transitions and set-pieces… we are very happy that we rescued one point.”

Cuadrat also praised the job done by his backroom staff, who helped him analyze the Highlanders’ sophisticated system of play. “We already knew how they were going to play. We do wonderful work in analyzing the opponent with my assistant. So, we knew completely what was going to happen in the game. As I told you, in this type of game the first goal is the one that puts the balance in one team’s hand or another’s,” the Spaniard reiterated.

Click here to read the match report.