Pune FC suffered their first defeat of the season going down 0-1 to Mohun Bagan in an I-League Round-5 away encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
Speaking at the post match Press Conference, Coach Karim Bencherifa gave his views about the match.
“We always knew it was going to be a difficult game playing away against Mohun Bagan, here in Kolkata. The coach of Mohun Bagan himself, in one of the newspapers, did mention that this game for him was more important than the derby. So I can already understand that this game was very important for them as it was for us,” said Coach Bencherifa.
Talking about the strategy, Coach Bencherifa further added, “We came out with a plan. We came with two strikers and one player as an attacking midfielder. The game was a little open in the first half, and we too were committing players forward. It was only when their strikers received the ball that we had a bit of difficulty containing them. For the first 30-35 minutes I didn’t want to change anything, because despite being under pressure, whenever their players got the ball on the flank we defended well. We wanted to impose our domination on the game and win it.”
When asked about his views on the second half, Coach Bencherifa said, “At the start of the second half, we put in a fresh player, Anthony D’Souza, on the left, and Edgar moved to the right. Our team was very balanced and we controlled the game. I think we played better in the second half with the only bad thing being conceding the goal which came from a lapse of concentration.”
“But we immediately switched to three strikers up front, and put a lot of pressure on them. We did create a few chances, but lacked the finish in the final minutes of the game. But that is football. We are a professional team. We know that there are wins and that there are losses and that we have to deal with all situations. When we win, we win together and when we lose we lose together. I can’t be angry about the game, because I know that the players gave their one hundred percent on the field.”
