Mohun Bagan Super Giant head coach Juan Ferrando was pleased with the result as his side beat Bengaluru FC in their second home match of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023–24 season at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Monday.

Hugo Boumous's 67th-minute powerful strike secured the win for the home side, marking their second successive win of the season. The Blues displayed strong defensive play throughout the match, but that one mistake separated the two sides. Despite being two men down, Bengaluru FC showed their fighting spirit. However, they failed to find the equaliser and lost to MBSG by a 1-0 scoreline.

“I think it's necessary to control all the spaces. In the end, we created more chances. During the last minutes, we were able to create chances because the opponent was more focused on transitioning than playing their normal style. My target, obviously, for the next matches is to try to keep possession of the ball and find spaces (effectively)," Ferrando stated in the post-match conference.

"We have had more chances today; in the last minutes, we have two, three: Manvir (Singh), Dimitri (Petratos), and Asish Rai. But the team was anxious. I think sometimes this anxiety can be a significant obstacle in football. You need to stay composed and in control of the situations,” he added.

The Spaniard believes his side did well after taking the lead, but he wants his team to improve more in the upcoming matches.

“Obviously, we need to improve. I believe that paying attention to many details in situations like this is necessary to better control the space. After the match was tied at 0-0, we improved significantly after going up 1-0. However, the team struggled to control the spaces, so we must work on maintaining that control. This is why we need more training sessions,” the Spaniard explained.

French attacking midfielder Boumous joined Ferrando in the post-match press conference. MBSG’s No. 10 returned to the first XI and proved to be the difference on the night.

Speaking about their plans to break Bengaluru’s ultra-defensive line, Boumous said:

“By working on the move, occupying space with Liston and Manvir on the wings, along with me and Sahal, Dimi, and Liston making runs behind the defence to find space behind their midfield, we aimed to operate quickly and force the opposition to move laterally, ultimately wearing them down until we found the best opportunity to attack. However, we still had chances tonight," he said.

"We could have certainly performed better and created clearer chances with improved decision-making and a more refined approach, making the quality of our play more accessible. It's up to us to keep improving week by week,” added Boumous.

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Mohun Bagan Super GiantBengaluru FC