ISL 2021-22: We didn’t have enough chances to score goals in the end: Bengaluru FC’s Marco Pezzaiuoli

Bengaluru FC head coach Marco Pezzaiuoli admitted that they didn’t have enough chances to score goals in the end against ATK Mohun Bagan in the 61st match of the ongoing Hero Indian Super League at the PJN Stadium, Fatorda on Sunday.

In fact, the Blues dominated the possession with 55% but they only took a solitary shot on target. However, they took a total of nine shots off target. Thus, they were not able to create enough chances to put pressure on the opposition.

Meanwhile, Liston Colaco was able to put ATK Mohun Bagan in front as he scored in the 45th minute of the game. Subsequently, Manvir Singh scored in the 85th minute to put the game to bed for the Mariners.

Macro Pezzaiuoli was disappointed with the way they conceded both of their goals and feels his team was not able to come up with a collective effort.

He said in the post-match press conference, “I think we played well today in the game. We had a good time and we made it difficult for ATK Mohun Bagan to play football. Normally they are a great possession team. We had good chances but not really clear chances, it was only Sunil in the first half and a very good pressing situation, good ball position but in the end, we conceded a goal out of nothing and that was a little bit disappointing. The second half, we had good ball possession as well but it was missing. We didn’t come behind the defense and when we came behind the defense line we didn’t bring the ball inside again, cutting backward and we missed the last pass in the box.

He added, “We get out of nothing the second goal and that was very disappointing too but I don’t make something against Roy because he didn’t play for a long time and trained two-three times with the team but we needed a fresh midfield player to avoid muscle injury. We missed the point at the beginning of the season. I think individual mistakes, not finishing penalties, mistakes in set pieces and as a result, we are missing the six-seven points. But I think we have shown in the season how we press, how we play football and that’s also something special. In the end, it is not enough to be in the top four but I think on this basis we can make the next step for the next season, also for the next game”.

Pezzaiuoli revealed that he told his team to be positive in the second half after conceding the goal in the 45th minute.

He said, “I said to be positive, go on, don’t get a negative mindset because we played very well. ATK Mohun Bagan had almost no chances and they didn’t play football at all because we made it difficult I said to go on and try to come more behind the defensive line and create more chances. But we didn’t have enough chances to score goals in the end. We had one shot on the goalkeeper and it’s not enough to win a game against a good ATK Mohun Bagan team”.

Bengaluru FC will play their last match on the league stage against SC East Bengal on Saturday at the Tilak Maidan Stadium.