Bengaluru FC coach Marco Pezzaiuoli lauded his squad of players as the Blues played out an entertaining 3-3 draw against the Mariners in Match 31 of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2021-22 at the GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim on Thursday.

Bengaluru FC came back from behind twice in an end-to-end encounter against ATK Mohun Bagan. Subhasish Bose opened the scoring for ATKMB from a corner. In the next fifteen minutes, BFC scored two goals courtesy of a penalty by Cleiton Silva and a header by Danish Farooq Bhat. Just before half-time, a calm finish by Hugo Boumous restored parity for the Mariners. 

After the break, Roy Krishna converted a penalty to fashion a lead for ATK Mohun Bagan. However, his strike was cancelled out by Prince Ibara 18 minutes from time. Both teams kept looking for the winner but failed to do so.

Bengaluru FC are now ninth on the points table while ATK Mohun Bagan are placed sixth.

After the Blues’ draw on Thursday, coach Pezzaiuoli addressed the media in the post match press conference.

Here are the excerpts from the press conference.

Do you think neither side deserved to lose tonight?

We didn’t deserve to lose. I think it was a great game. We made some mistakes but we also created a lot of chances and scored three goals. It’s an improvement. We had changed the team and put in some youngsters.

Do you think the changes you made in the starting lineup worked today?

I think it was the right decision. Parag played sixty minutes two days back but I think he had enough in him to go again. I think we have a good squad of 30 players. We need everybody.

Apart from a few errors leading to ATK Mohun Bagan in the match, how happy are you with overall performance?

Every game for us is important. We lost to ATKMB twice last season. This time we played a draw and a good draw. I think we are improving and it gives the team a lot of hope. And at the end of the season we will know if this one point was enough to make the next.

Will we get to see more of Ashique Kuruniyan in the left wing position?

Of course it’s an option. In both systems he played on the left side. The important thing is he brings confidence. The team stood behind him after the last game. As a coach he has given me more options.

What do you think about Cleiton Silva’s performance tonight?

It was a good performance. He worked hard. He was good in one-on-one situations. He kept the ball and linked well with midfield players. He is in good form this season.