I League Derby : Our Boys Proved We Were Not Underdogs : Biswajit Bhattacharya

East Bengal coach Biswajit Bhattacharya at the post match press conference . Image Source : Xtra Time

Kolkata : East Bengal coach Biswajit Bhattacharya today hailed his team for securing a 1-1 draw against arch-rivals Mohun Bagan in the I-League derby match at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan here today.

East Bengal took a second half lead with a Ranty Martins goal before Mohun Bagan equalised through Cornell Glen as I-League’s first derby failed to yield a result here.

East Bengal dominated the proceedings in the first-half as their defence brilliantly held up Mohun Bagan’s star studded forward line up in Sony Norde, Katsumi Yusa and Glen.

In the midfield too youngster Bikash Jairu and U-22 quota player Abinash Ruidas impressed as Bhattacharya was full praise of the side.

“Jairu was my player of the match. He’s the best midfielder at the moment right now and Bheke too was outstanding,” Bhattacharya said.

East Bengal started as underdogs in the match and the coach said: “The more you tag us ‘underdogs’, the better we play. Our approach was always positive and the boys lived up to the tasks. Norde was brilliantly held up from the right while I expect more from (forward) Do Dong Hyun.”

East Bengal won once and drew twice to remain on third place with five points from three matches and Bhattacharya pointed out they played all away matches so far, including the one today which was Mohun Bagan’s home outing.

“We have lost four points yes, but they were all from away matches. We played good and so did Mohun Bagan.

East Bengal also halted Mohun Bagan’s two-match winning run but the defending champions remained in the lead of the table with seven points after three rounds.

Mohun Bagan coach Sanjay Sen at the post match press conference . Image Source : Xtra Time

Mohun Bagan remained on top of the of the table with seven points after three rounds.

“It was a 50-50 match. For us, it’s important they’ve lost four points. We both played cautious game at the start as we did not want to lose. It’s not as if they pressurised us. The first goal was half-chance… We knew what Ranty’s capable of and I have tremendous respect for him,” Bagan coach Sanjoy Sen said.