Sunil Chhetri was absolutely dejected after Bengaluru FC were held to a 2-2 draw by Hyderabad FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2020-21 despite being in the lead for 85 minutes at the Tilak Maidan on Thursday. Chhetri has given his team the lead in the ninth minute of the game and then Leon Augustin found the back of the net with which BFC had a 2-goal cushion. However, Aridane Santana and Fran Sandaza scored in the last 10 minutes of the match (including stoppage time) to earn a draw for Hyderabad.
With the draw, Bengaluru extended their winless run to eight games in a season that is turning out to be their worst in their history. Chhetri and Cleiton Silva (who assisted the captain for the first goal) were both substituted in the 84th minute with BFC in a comfortable situation but things unravelled quickly after that and The Blues settled for the draw.
ISL 2020-21 FULL COVERAGE | ISL 2020-21 SCHEDULE | ISL 2020-21 POINTS TABLE
“I think we fought well. We got the two-goal lead. But we let in two goals. We are gutted as a team, it feels like a loss. The whole team thought we had three points in the bag. We have to go back, see the goals and discuss it.
“Eight games, we haven’t had a win. I know I have to go back and train and give everything there. We are going to sulk for sometime and then get back to training. In football, winning is a habit. Drawing or losing is also a habit and we are kind of in that habit right now. I don’t know what winning feels now. I sound depressed but we go and give our all and get a loss or a draw, it’s difficult,” Chhetri said to the broadcasters after the match.
ISL 2020-21 Hyderabad FC vs Bengaluru FC: HIGHLIGHTS | GALLERY
Chhetri sulked about the eight-game winless run but said the only positive that can come out of this season was the chance that the youngsters at the club were getting day in and day out.
“To be honest, I don’t know what brand of football we have under (Carles) Cuadrat or (Naushad) Moosa bhai. We train well, apply ourselves. After every game we lose, we pull each other up. We haven’t won for eight games now, I don’t know.
“I try to be a good example but the only good thing about this season is the youngsters getting a chance. When everything is going well, you don’t see these youngsters get chance. Generally in a team like BFC who want to be in Top 4, they don’t get many chances but they are going to be playing next year now. It is good for the youngsters and will probably give them confidence for the next games,” he added.
BFC’s interim head coach Moosa also found it difficult to except the way his team were held to a draw and was quite speechless. “Again the same problem, switching off. It was a two-goal lead and then conceding two goals in four minutes (sic). I don’t know how to digest that,” he said to the broadcasters.
He explained the reason behind substituting both Chhetri and Cleiton and said he was only trying to protect them. “Why I got them out was because Cleiton was complaining about his hamstring at half time and Sunil wasn’t keeping well, he didn’t even train yesterday, so I thought about resting them. I expected Semboi and Naorem to do better.”
Moosa was appreciative of his team’s fighting spirit in these dire circumstances but found it difficult to pin point how he was going to improve the side. “I myself don’t know. Imagine having a two-goal lead and getting in two goals. The team has really been fighting, I appreciate the way they have been playing but again, somewhere, I need to see the goals now and then think about it. When I saw the goal, I feel there was a defensive lapse and we just switched off. We can’t have four men and one person going in behind and scoring a goal.”
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
Comments
0 comment