Gombau appreciates Delhi youngsters, Cuadrat admits losing due to own mistakes

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Despite the defeat the Blues are set to keep their place at the top of the league table.

League leaders Bengaluru FC suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Delhi Dynamos in the Indian Super League fixture on Sunday night. Former Bengaluru forward Daniel Lalhlimpuia came on as a super-sub to haunt his former team by scoring two late goals. Although, Sunil Chhetri and Boithang Haokip scored a goal each, The Blues fell short against a resurgent Dynamos side.

After the game, the head coaches of both teams met with the media for the post-match press conference.

 

 

 

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Watch: Delhi Dynamos 3-2 Bengaluru FC highlights

Delhi have, like always, been struggling with a season full of sub-par performances. But, the team managed to beat the league leaders in their final home game of the campaign. The Delhi head coach Josep Gombau expressed his happiness about the result.

"We are happy. I think we played well against our opponent, Bengaluru, which is the team at the top of the table. What we work for in the training sessions is working and I am happy for the boys," said Gombau.

Daniel turned out to be the star of the game, however, came on as a substitute in the second half. Gombau explained the rationale behind leaving him on the bench and starting with Shubham Sarangi instead by saying, "He got 45 minutes and scored two goals, which is good. Last game wasn't the best for him and so I decided to start with younger players, playing Shubham as false-nine and trying to control the game."

He was also questioned about his thoughts regarding Daniel's selection in the U-23 squad, to which he answered, "It's not just him in the selected team, there's Vinit Rai, there's  Lallianzuala Chhangte, there's Sajid Dhot. We have four players in the selected squad and I think we have the better young players in all of the league."

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Chhangte was the pick of the players with his runs being very difficult to contain for the Bengaluru defence. The young winger has found new confidence and Gombau explained why. He said, "I think when players are mentally strong, with good things happening to them, such as as the trail, they are confident and play well."

Bengaluru head coach Carles Cuadrat, meanwhile, rued the fact that the team lost despite taking the lead in the second half. "There were a lot of things happening in the game. When we were 2-1 up, we weren’t having a lot of problems. We should have worked to keep that result. Unfortunately, there was a mistake inside the box when marking Daniel. We left the ball completely for him. He scored and after that anything could happen. We tried to keep up with the plan, but it was not possible," he told ISL Media.

Bengaluru decided to let the Hero of the Match Daniel, go after having him for three years. When questioned if the decision backfired Cuadrat answered, "I've worked with him for two years and he is a fantastic professional. In football, these things happen. It's nothing special."