Sunil waited for Luna to get out of the way twice, Simon Grayson clarifies

The Bengaluru FC manager backed his star player and his side in the controversial win.

Simon Grayson's Bengaluru FC defeated Kerala Blasters 1-0 in the first ISL 2022-23 playoff match at the Kanteerava Outdoor stadium in Bengaluru. Sunil Chettri scored the winning goal through the freekick to hand Bengaluru FC a place in the semifinals. The Blues is set to take on shield winners Mumbai City FC in the semifinals.

The post-match press conference was attended by head coach Simon Grayson sharing his thoughts on the match.

What happened exactly after the freekick

Sunil Chettri’s freekick is the talk of the town. The referee did not blow the whistle and the Kerala Blasters FC players were busy building the wall but Chettri without much hesitation took the freekick which did not go well in the Kerala Blasters FC dugout eventually staging a walk off the pitch.

Simon Grayson opined, “It's not the way in which we wanted to progress through to the semifinals. There were a lot of controversies that we all know. From what I was hearing from Kerala Blasters and from our side was that we got the freekick and Sunil said did not want the wall to which the referee said no problem. Sunil waited for Luna to get out of the way twice and then put it in the top corner.

"Kerala Blasters was saying that we should have waited for the referee to blow the whistle but the referee made the decision which ended in controversy. To be honest I would not have done the same thing personally as a coach rather would have accepted the referees' decision and would have got back into the game in the best way possible. They decided to do something different which is something I wouldn't have done,” Simon Grayson added.

Overall assessment

The match ended in a goalless draw in the first 90 minutes. Sunil Chhetri took a quick freekick to open the scoring for the home team Bengaluru FC which also turned out to be the winning goal.

The head coach said, “When you look at the game our performance warranted a win as well, especially in the first half we were full-on energy creating opportunities. We kept their crucial players quiet on most occasions. When you look at the overall performance we deserved to win.”

Will the nature of this win affect the preparations going towards the semifinals?

Bengaluru FC is set to take on Mumbai City FC in the first leg of the semifinals at the Mumbai Football Arena. The Blues defeated Mumbai City FC the last time they visited them at home.

The 53-year-old iterated, “This will be a talking point in the history of Indian Football that's for sure. We start our preparations tomorrow and will be heading to Mumbai. They are an excellent side and we need to play well there."

Conversation with Ivan Vukamunovic

Simon Grayson said, “What I said to him was not to take his team off for which he disagreed with me. He said that the referee made a complete mess of the decision.”

Thoughts on referees

The referring standards in the ISL have been questionable for the past few seasons. This season too many head coaches have shared their displeasure on the referring standards.

The head coach shared his thoughts on the referees, “I do not criticize the referee too often. I thought in the first half two players from Kerala Blasters should have been booked but none of them got punished. I will accept his decision.”