After losing to SC East Bengal in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Saturday, Bengaluru FC interim coach Naushad Moosa said that the side needs to improve their finishing.
The Blues lost their fourth match in a row on Saturday when they went down 0-1 to East Bengal. It was Moosa's first game in charge of the team following the sacking of Carles Cuadrat earlier this week due to the team's poor run of form.
Bengaluru had early chances in the game but struggled to get the goals. First, it was Sunil Chhetri, whose lob-shot over the rival defense was easily dealt with by Debjit Majumder. Cleiton Silva soon had a chance to put his side ahead in the 15th minute. But the Brazilian failed to direct his header at the goal after Juan Antonio Gonzalez had pushed Parag Shrivas' long throw-in in the box.
"Nobody wants to miss chances, we were trying. We were more attacking today, we created a lot of chances. We want to work on the finishing," Moosa said after the game.
"The way they were playing, I don't think we were lacking a plan. We created a lot of chances, it has been three games we have not been scoring, we need to work on our finishing," he added.
Moosa feels that Bengaluru can still qualify for the play-offs as they have 10 games left in the tournament.
"There are 30 points out there, I don't feel that it is not reachable. The boys have the confidence they can do it and I am sure we can get there," he said.
"If you see the way they played, not to forget we have 10 more games, there is nothing like 'we are under pressure and we have lost three games.' The boys were positive and I am really proud of them," he added.
Matti Steinmann put SCEB in the lead in the 20th minute with a fine outside-foot finish. Ankit Mukherjee's cross was not dealt with cleanly by Ajith and Juanan and it found Narayan Das on the left. Narayan then played a low cross to Steinmann in the middle, and he scored his third of the season.
SCEB were in total control of the game at this point and made Bengaluru chase shadows. The Kolkata side created a couple of chances before the half-hour mark and nearly extended their lead. Ankit sent in a perfect cross into the box, but Narayan's diving finish diverted it wide. Minutes later, another chance went begging for SCEB, as Harmanpreet Singh couldn't get to the end of Ankit's through pass.
Bengaluru put up a much-improved performance in the second half. Chhetri played a one-two with Kristian Opseth and on entering the box tried his luck with a powerful strike but his effort was saved by Debjit.
( With inputs from ANI )
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