Only one team was trying to win the game and that was us: Mohun Bagan's Clifford Miranda

Miranda also updated on Mohun Bagan’s injuries.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant played out a chaotic 2-2 draw against Odisha FC to preserve their unbeaten run in the Indian Super League on Wednesday (December 6). The Mariners actually went down to a 2-0 deficit at half-time, with Ahmed Jahouh scoring a brace.

However, striker Armando Sadiku scored a brace of his own and equalized in the 94th minute to earn a point for his side. After full-time, the chaos continued as Juan Ferrando was sent off for a post-match spat with the opposition players.

Assistant coach Clifford Miranda addressed the post-match press conference for the Mariners. Below are the excerpts.

Miranda reflects on the result

Clifford Miranda was instead present in the post-match press conference. He reflected on the thrilling draw, explaining: “We dominated the game from the beginning and were in a good moment from the beginning. In the first half, an unfortunate handball caused the first goal and the second goal, as everyone knows, how we conceded it and we should forget it.

“Everyone knows the thing that happened before that goal. We had good moments in the first half, especially when we started the game, but this is football. We came back sharply in the second half, you could see from the beginning that only one team was trying to win the game and that was us,” he added.

Injuries hampering the Mariners?

Miranda also opened up about the injuries picked up by the Mariners and what is the status of Sahal Abdul Samad, especially with India’s AFC Asian Cup participation next month. He said: “It’s one of those matches where things have gone wrong. We lost Hugo in the warm-up, then Sahal and Thapa in the first half. It wasn’t because of muscle injuries but contact injuries. But this is football. Kiyan is okay, he had some muscular issues but is fine. Other than that, Manvir, Dimitri, Ashique and Anwar are injured.”

 “I’m not worried about the national team. I’m worried about Mohun Bagan. I don’t know his situation, we have to assess his situation and then we’ll see,” he also claimed.

Why did Ferrando get sent off?

When asked about what caused Ferrando to get sent off after full-time, the ex-India international stated:  “To be honest, I did not see that. I trust my coach 100%. My coach wasn’t involved in any malicious things. But we know the nature of the game and the decisions that went on in the game. The less I speak about that the better, because we’ve all seen the game and how all the decisions went.”

Praise for Vishal Kaith and thoughts on unbeaten run

Miranda also hailed Vishal Kaith’s clutch double-save towards the end for helping the Mariners stay in the game, but praised the mentality of the entire squad, saying:  “If Vishal doesn’t make the save, Sadiku couldn’t have made it 2-2. We would’ve lost the game otherwise so that save is very crucial. But the effort of the entire team, from minute 1 to minute 98 was phenomenal. Not only the players who started but also those on the bench. We have a very good squad, not only in ability but also in terms of characters.”

The Mohun Bagan assistant coach refused to talk much about his side’s unbeaten run in the ISL and said: “For us, the most important is the next game. We’ve come here till now with a match-by-match mentality. We’re not thinking about our five-game unbeaten run. We’re only thinking about the next game,” he finished with.

Armando Sadiku pleased to get the goals

Player of the Match Armando Sadiku was a happy man after finally scoring goals in the ISL, as he said after the game: “Every time I try to do my best. Sometimes I score, and sometimes I pass for others. I’m happy to score this time and help the team. I give my 100% every time and I’m happy.

“I feel very good. I’m a bit open because the fans wanted goals from me. I hope I can continue like this every game. We need to recover from this game because we have a lot of injuries. But we have a very good squad and trust in everyone,” he also added.

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