Phalguni lost his father today but played & did everything for us: Juan Pedro Benali

Juan Pedro Benali claimed his side deserved a draw against Mumbai City.

The fourth match of the tenth edition of the Indian Super League saw the defending league shield winners Mumbai City FC get all three points against a resurgent NorthEast United at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati.

It was an entertaining game with goals, chances, challenges and some drama. The Highlanders gave a very tough fight to the Islanders and sent a message across the league that NorthEast United FC have changed.

The game began with Jorge Pereyra Diaz opening the scoring for Mumbai before Parthib Gogoi equalised for his side. In the 38th minute, Diaz added his and his team's second goal to ensure a 1-2 defeat for the home side.

After the game, NorthEast United’s head coach Juan Pedro Benali addressed the media and shared his thoughts on the game.

Thoughts on the game

The head coach opened up about his team’s performance and said that his side deserved a draw today.

“We played against one of the biggest teams. Their budget is I don’t know how many times bigger than us. We deserved a draw today. We created 8-9 chances. The players gave everything. Parthib was totally dead so we had to change him," he said.

He further went on to speak about how proud he was of Phalguni Singh for playing today despite losing his father.

“Romain pressed well. It was a very hard day today because Phalguni (Singh) lost his father today, but he played and did everything for the team. I am happy and proud. Now we start thinking about the game on 29th,” he asserted.

Words before the game

When asked about what he told his players ahead of the game, the Spaniard said, “I told them to believe in ourselves and be less innocent, to take our chance and to kill it because when you have a chance and you don’t kill, you get killed.”

Thoughts on the players’ performance

Juan Pedro Benali also shared his thoughts on his players’ performance. He said that all the players have quality, but just a few things need to be sorted. 

“Every player did his job today and we need to correct the little mistakes. The team is working but talent only doesn’t work, we need a little bit more. We cannot put Parthib and Phalguni all the time. We need to give them time,” he concluded.