ISL 2023-24: We created very clear chances in the second half – Carles Cuadrat after loss against Mohun Bagan Super Giant

East Bengal FC head coach Carles Cuadrat shared his disappointment after his team suffered a 1-3 loss against derby rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the 19th match week of the ongoing Indian Super League at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Sunday.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant were able to put themselves in front as Jason Cummings, Liston Colaco and Dimitri Petratos scored in the first half to give a convincing lead of 3-0 to their team.

However, the Red and Gold brigade bounced back strongly in the second half as Saul Crespo scored in the 53rd minute. East Bengal FC had 52.4% possession and took four shots on target. Cuadrat’s team came up with a better performance in the second half.

“I’m very proud.. of how the players have been going for the game (to make a comeback) in the second half. I think that they showed what the greater goal means for them because they have been fighting like crazy. I think if we scored the second goal, we would have put them in trouble. We created very clear chances – the heading of Cleiton.. also the penalty to Vishnu, a lot of things which could (have) been (the) second goal. Anything could have happened,” Cuadrat said in the post-match press conference.

Meanwhile, East Bengal FC captain Cleiton Silva failed to grab his chance as he missed a penalty in the first half. However, the Spanish tactician backed Silva to bounce back strongly.

“It happens. Sometimes, when you score the first goal, mentally, the moment helps you get the result. It’s not the first penalty that Cleiton has missed so I think that in general, for the team, it’s that kind of ‘Oh, no. Again!’ (situation in the Kolkata Derby). But I’m very happy with the work of Cleiton, his personality and character. So no problem about that (missing the penalty). It happens in football. But I think that the mental effect is real, if it’s Cleiton missing the penalty than another player,” the Spaniard said.

He added: “We have to understand that it’s part of football. I think we arrived at half-time in a very difficult mental situation because of the penalty miss, the injury of Nunga..We decided not to do the substitution because we wanted to bring the two youngsters, Vishnu (PV) and Sayan (Mukherjee). You need a tactical plan that they understand well because today we were playing with a different system. But unfortunately, it was only three minutes into extra time and Nandha(Kumar Sekar) made that small contact in the box and we gave away the third goal.”

East Bengal FC will next take on Kerala Blasters FC at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi on 3rd April.