In a clash of the top two-ranked teams in the Indian Super League (ISL), Bengaluru FC beat Chennaiyin FC by 3-1 to extend their lead at the top to seven points.
John Gregory’s men got off to a horrid start at Chennai after conceding a goal as early as the second minute. The Englishman was critical of all three goals conceded by his side in the post-match press conference.
“You have to be prepared for all eventualities regardless of when you conceded. It certainly was not a good start. All three goals came from glaring mistakes which I don’t expect from my players. We gave them three goals, which was frustrating. Francis (Fernandes) scored a fantastic goal and we looked like scoring and winning the game really,” the Chennaiyin coach stated.
The home side went down to 10 men after skipper Henrique was given his marching orders for a second booking and Gregory lamented the loss of the inspirational central defender.
“Sereno made just the two tackles and both were yellow. I've seen a number of incidents this season. I've seen every single match and you see players make five to six challenges and get only one yellow. I think he's unfortunate to have got two yellow. But we have to suffer the consequences at the end of the day,” Gregory rued.
“Sereno has been a real inspiration for us this season and he's played like a captain. As a defender you are always likely to get a yellow card. He's been outstanding as our last line of defence. He will be back after missing the next game,” the gaffer said about his skipper.
Gregory praised Albert Roca’s men for their style of play and chalked the defeat to a bad day in the office.
“Without doubt, we made errors, which is very unlike us and they took advantage of the mistakes we made in the game. It is a privilege to have a team like Bengaluru in the ISL, to play that kind of game. They keep the ball well and play very well. But it was one of those nights where things didn't go to plan,” the Englishman explained.
The result leaves the Super Machans in second place in the league table with 23 points, one point ahead of FC Pune City and Jamshedpur FC. Gregory sought a response from his men for the defeat going into their last five league games.
“It depends how we deal with it (the loss). There are question marks against all of us tonight on how we deal with it. The players are unhappy at the loss but we have to be composed and maybe hope one or two results go in our favour. But our qualification is still in our hands. We'll pick ourselves up, wash ourselves down and face the remaining games,” he stated before concluding.
