ISL 2020-21: Bengaluru FC interim coach Naushad Moosa confident his side will take positives from NorthEast United FC draw
Bengaluru FC's losing streak in the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) season ended on Tuesday as they played out a 1-1 draw against NorthEast United FC at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco. With this result, the former champions remain at the sixth spot in the points table, with 13 points from 11 matches.
Rahul Bheke scored the equalising goal for Bengaluru FC in the 50th minute after taking a shot from outside the box. NorthEast United FC's goalkeeper, Gurmeet Singh failed to deal with it properly.
Despite not getting a win, Bengaluru FC's interim coach Naushad Moosa is confident that his side will build on from the match against NorthEast United FC. Moosa's side dominated proceedings, as they had 60% possession and took 10 shots in yesterday's game.
"We should take all the positives from the point that we got. It was not easy giving away an easy goal and then creating a lot of scoring opportunities. From here it's very important to keep my players motivated and they don't feel low. We have nice eight days. We can improve on what all mistakes what we were doing," Moosa said.
In the 27th minute, Dimas Delgado failed to control a pass from Sunil Chhetri in the opposition half. NorthEast United FC's Federico Gallego pounced on it and initiated a counter-attack by darting with the ball. The Uruguayan laid a square pass to Luis Machado, who stroked the ball into the back of the net.
Reacting to the goal, Moosa said:
"There's no one in the world or any individual who wants to lose. It was just a mistake, uneven bounce which he (Dimas Delgado) couldn't control, and that was a silly goal."
"The instruction was to control the ball at half-time," says Bengaluru FC interim coach Naushad Moosa
Bengaluru FC came up with a spirited display after the change of sides. They even got a goal for their efforts as Rahul Bheke scored early in the second half. Discussing his half-time talk, Moosa said:
"We just work on where the opponent is weak. We moved from the wings and held the ball more. In the first half, we were losing the ball quite often. We were easily giving away the ball. So, the instruction was to control the ball, pass the ball, and move the ball."
Bengaluru FC have an eight-day break ahead of them. They later take on arch-rivals Kerala Blasters at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on January 20.