ATK Mohun Bagan striker Roy Krishna opened up on his side’s struggles, citing their failure to move the ball into the final third quickly as one of the problems. His side were held to a 3-3 draw against a spirited Bengaluru FC in their Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2021-22 match at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim on Thursday evening.

Subhasish Bose, Hugo Boumous and Roy Krishna were on the scoresheet for ATK Mohun Bagan, while Cleiton Silva, Danish Farooq and Prince Ibara netted for the Blues in a riveting contest.

“I don't know, something is wrong. I'm not getting balls up front, so I have to move in the middle and you know, defenders know me now. So they are doing a good job so far, but look, we as a team, we need to step up, we have a good side and (we were) just not good enough today, lucky we didn't lose, but happy with the point, but I think (we were) not good enough as a team,” Krishna said during the post-match interview.

Having failed to register a point in their last three matches, Bengaluru FC’s Cleiton Silva was content with the draw, and felt that the result was a big boost to their confidence. 

“I think it's very important because we must start from somewhere, you know, and today against ATK Mohun Bagan was a really tough game. You guys know how they played tough last year, they were the runners up and, in my opinion, they are even better than last year, they have (Hugo) Boumous. They have also signed the goalkeeper from Mumbai City FC. So, that one point was very important for the players’ confidence,” Silva quipped after Thursday’s game.

However, ATK Mohun Bagan full-back Bose, who was also awarded the Hero of the Match, expressed displeasure with the two points lost, opining that it was a match they should have won.

“We lost two points, we should have won this match, and we took the lead at first, but we conceded the goal. So, we need to work on these things, not to concede after taking the lead. It will help us reach the top four. Bengaluru FC gave a good fight, we also gave our 100%, but unfortunately the match was drawn. I hope we will win the next match,” Bose stated.

Bengaluru FC will play their next game at the same venue against Jamshedpur on 20th December. ATK Mohun Bagan, meanwhile, will face off against NorthEast United FC the following day at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda.