Naushad Moosa: You have to be serious till the last whistle

The Bengaluru FC interim head coach was frustrated with his team following the draw.

Bengaluru FC conceded two late goals to slip to a 2-2 draw against Hyderabad FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Thursday night. Sunil Chhetri scored early and Leon Augustine doubled Bengaluru’s lead in the 61st minute. However, Aridane Santana pulled one back for the Nizams in 86th minute, before Fran Sandaza levelled the scores in injury-time. Interim head coach Naushad Moosa rued the players’ rather casual attitude in the last 10 minutes of the game.

Frustrating result?

Bengaluru are yet to taste a victory in the five matches that Naushad Moosa has been in-charge so far. They are on an eight-match winless run and were mighty close to bagging three points this time around. “Of course it is. In four minutes, conceding two goals…that’s really not digestible.

"Players, the way they played, they showed character; keeping the ball well. They are defending well. Towards the end, that’s what we have been struggling this season. Just switching off and giving away easy goals. It was easy goals,” Moosa claimed.

Leon Augustine’s reaction after goal

Leon Augustine notched the first goal of his ISL career in the game and was understandably thrilled about it. The coach revealed the 22-year-old’s staunch determination to get on the scoresheet, as he said, “Being a youngster, I had a talk with him. I had a feeling that he is going to score.

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"Because the way Asish (Rai) and (Akash) Mishra were going on top and overlapping, so that was one place I was looking to take advantage. He did well, he did well for the ball and he badly needed that goal, just for his confidence. It’s very important for this young player to score or assist. But, he always said, ‘I want to score’. And he did that.”

Juanan’s injury

Juanan was substituted in the seventh minute as he looked to have pulled his hamstring. Speaking about the seasoned defender’s fitness, Moosa quipped, “He has a hamstring. We need to see how serious it is. But, it looks doubtful, maybe he is out for next match.”

Impact of Sunil Chhetri’s substitution

Sunil Chhetri’s substitution in the 85th minute had a catastrophic effect on the team, as Bengaluru let go of their comfortable lead within six minutes. Addressing whether the players switched off after the skipper was taken out, the 49-year-old stated, “Yes, I feel so. It was not switched off. It was just we were not getting those two defensive midfielders. We could have been there, blocking those long passes. That was the only thing.”

Missing key foreign players

Erik Paartalu picked up a yellow card in the 82nd minute and will miss Bengaluru’s upcoming match against SC East Bengal. The Blues will be deprived of Juanan’s services as well and Moosa was certainly distressed about that. “Yes, it’s not only Erik, I will miss Juanan as well. So, there are these two players, which is so important for the team; for the set-pieces,” the interim head coach remarked.

Fitness issues

As stated earlier, Bengaluru looked to have completely switched off as the game entered its fag end. One of the queries was whether the team lagged behind on the fitness front. Naushad Moosa rebuffed those claims and instead mentioned that it was the team’s rather casual approach that led to them conceding two late goals.

“I don’t want to say that fitness is a problem. It was just that those last moments, there you have to be more cautious. We were just being casual. They have been doing good. It’s not like they had a bad game. They really had a good game. But, it was just those fraction of seconds, they just switched off. So, I have been telling them that. We need to work on that,” the former Mahindra United player said.