Carles Cuadrat praises opposition, Eelco Schattorie rues missed chances

The home side were led by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's inspirational performance.

Bengaluru got back to winning ways with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over NorthEast United FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday. After Mislav Komorski put the ball into his own net to hand Bengaluru the lead, Federico Gallego levelled things for the visitors in the second-half with a neat finish. NorthEast were left to rue a series of missed chances as Chencho Gyeltshen poked home the winner for the Blues.

Super-sub @Che7cho came off the bench to score against @NEUtdFC and take @bengalurufc ???? on ???? of the #HeroISL table!More videos: https://t.co/8jtqJIjojH #ISLRecap #LetsFootball #FanBannaPadega #BENNEU pic.twitter.com/apH6heokKx

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) January 30, 2019

Watch: Bengaluru 2-1 NorthEast United

At the post-match press conference, Bengaluru head coach Carles Cuadrat shared his thoughts on the victory. "As we get close to the playoffs, all the teams are trying to build the momentum to get the points. Every game is going to be more intense, more competitive. I have to say that NorthEast are a wonderful team. It’s a really wonderful team. They play very good football. So, we have to very happy to get four points from six against them."

Both of Bengaluru's goals on the night came about from set-pieces and the Spaniard was delighted with his team’s ability to utilize dead ball situations to the maximum. "Yes, we have scored two goals from set-pieces. We work a lot in that. So, it’s one of our strong points," he said.

ALSO READ

• Indian Player Ratings: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu puts in an improved display, Rehenesh TP falters

• Late Chencho strike seals win for Bengaluru against valiant NorthEast United

• Josep Gombau hopes for a win, Nelo Vingada rues recent transfers

Cuadrat was also happy with the way his team defended against set-piece situations. "We defended 14 corners and conceded from none. And during the season, we are not letting in any goal from corner or free-kick. I’m very disappointed with the goal we conceded because it was from a throw-in. But on corner and free-kicks, we work a lot," Cuadrat remarked.

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

From NorthEast’s end, head coach Eelco Schattorie was present to answer questions from the media. He was evidently disappointed with the final result but praised Bengaluru goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu for his match-winning performance. "To be honest, I don’t know where to begin. If the goalkeeper is the man of the match, that means he saved a lot of balls. I will never be able to blame anybody for missing a chance. There was only one team here and that was us. I think Bengaluru had only one shot on goal. If you compare their team to our team, we outplayed them. We got so many chances. The goalkeeper was the man of the match," he said.

When asked about his assessment of his team’s performance, Schattorie responded, "For us, it is a painful loss, especially because we could have won. But again, we played against the best club in the country. I think we can be proud. Now we have to get everybody together. A big negative of the game is that I lost my left centre-back (Mislav Komorski) due to an injury. Hopefully, he will be fine."