Bengaluru FC head coach Simon Grayson expressed his disappointment as the Blues suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Mohun Bagan Super Giant in matchweek 2 of the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.

The match was closely contested throughout, and a second-half goal by Hugo Boumous secured the three points for the Mariners. Bengaluru FC's troubles were compounded by two red cards shown to their players, Suresh Singh Wangjam and Roshan Singh.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Grayson stated that his team had a strong start and were in a good position until a miscommunication among his players resulted in conceding an unfortunate goal and ultimately losing the match in the middle of the second-half.

"I think when we look back at the first half, we were strong in both departments. We began the game really well in the first 15 to 20 minutes, had three or four decent opportunities, and limited Mohun Bagan Super Giant to only a few chances. As the first half progressed, our performance remained solid, and I don't believe Gurpreet had to make any significant saves,” said the Englishman.

“The second half was quite similar. The goal that we conceded was a goal that we should have dealt with better. It was a lack of communication between the goalkeeper and centre back but until then we didn't look to be in a position where we would concede too many goals," Grayson added.

"We just needed to be better in both boxes and make sure that when we get the opportunity, we try and take them," he continued.

Defeat in Kolkata for Simon Grayson's Blues.
We'll see you at the Fortress next week, Bengaluru. #WeAreBFC #MBSGBFC pic.twitter.com/BBLGaWAdNg

— Bengaluru FC (@bengalurufc) September 27, 2023

The Englishman reiterated that the absence of experienced players in the attacking department proved to be crucial once again. However, he commended his players for the hard work they put in and the challenges they posed to a formidable team like Mohun Bagan Super Giant.

When I look at the options we had available, those were the first 70 minutes that Curtis Main has played. He has missed a lot of preseason, and Javi Hernandez has also missed a significant portion of preseason. They were two of our attacking options. Also, Sunil (Chhetri) and Rohit Danu were away, and Halicharan (Narzary) is injured, so we don't have many experienced options," stated Grayson.

"There are two parts to the game, and if we could have taken one of our chances, we could have won the game. We worked really hard, asked questions, and limited a very attack-minded team to very few opportunities,” he added.

Bengaluru FC will return to their Fortress in the next match against East Bengal FC on October 4. Grayson aims to build on the positives from the first two games, minimize mistakes, and try to win the next game.

"To try and win the next game. Our approach (was the same) in both the games (we played). Two very difficult games Kerala Blasters was the first and here tonight. We are back at the Kanteerava next week and so we want to play on the front foot, we want to play positive football, defend well as a team and cut out our mistakes," he concluded.