Oscar Bruzon reveals how East Bengal fought against Mohammedan Sporting with nine men

Oscar Bruzon also praised his players for their effort.

Oscar Bruzon was a proud man after seeing the way his East Bengal side fought their way to earn the 0-0 draw against Mohammedan Sporting in the Indian Super League (ISL).

The Red & Gold Brigaders had to play over 60 minutes with just nine men after wingers Nandhakumar Sekar and Naorem Mahesh Singh got sent off during the 30-minute mark. Despite playing with two fewer men, the Kolkata giants defended admirably to get their first point in the ongoing ISL campaign.

Oscar Bruzon acknowledged that his side were desperate to win, but praised their attitude to getting this result, claiming: “What I see is that the fans saw the problem in the pitch. We played bravely, I put in two defensive lines but we tried to win the ball. For that, we could with long balls or set pieces. There were a few chances we could have. In our situation, we are still last at the table.

ALSO READ: Oscar Bruzon highlights two key factors about refereeing decision after draw against Mohammedan SC

“It’s important that we’ve not lost in the last four games and that this is the first East Bengal clean sheet in the last eight ISL games. Our target today was to get three points and the conditions we discussed didn’t allow us. Mohammedan must’ve also liked to play against 11 players. If we need to have positivity, the fans must work with the fight for the team and see that we played with spirit and character,” he added.

Oscar Bruzon also believes that East Bengal are now close to reaching some kind of ‘normality’ in results as this draw extends their unbeaten run to four games across all competitions. Oscar Bruzon stated: “I’m coming from two clubs where we were winning continuously for 25-30 games. I’m not accustomed to losing. That’s the reality. I don’t want to lose. We’ve already lost all the number of games we should’ve lost in 2024.

“My players are getting my messages, but that is not mental or psychological. We have to implement it with tactics and techniques. We need players to help each other, for one player to cover for another player whenever required. What happened at the beginning of the season wasn’t normal, so we are slowly getting to the normal consistency to win, win and win with East Bengal,” Oscar Bruzon added.

Oscar Bruzon will be eager to get his first win in the ISL as East Bengal coach when they return to action by hosting an in-form NorthEast United side on 29 November.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.