Guwahati (Assam) [India], November 4 (ANI): NorthEast United FC head coach Juan Pedro Benali was pleased with his team’s 3-2 win over Odisha FC in the Indian Super League at Guwahati on Sunday as they jumped to the fifth spot in the table.
Forward Alaaeddine Ajaraie netted a brace as the Highlanders survived a second-half onslaught from the visitors to claim all three points and post their second straight win at home.
The Spaniard enjoyed the victory but highlighted areas where his team needs to do better.
“It was a very nice game. Good to watch. It was nice for the fans. We played against a very good team that played good football, so these were nice three points,” Juan Pedro Benali said during the post-match press conference as quoted by the ISL official website.
“I am very satisfied with the result but you always feel that we need to improve in some moments. In the end, I felt we could have scored a few more goals, they could have got the draw as well. We were lucky this time but we got the three points,” he added.
NorthEast United FC were hanging on in the end despite enjoying a two-goal lead in the match twice and the Spaniard felt his team needed to learn how to manage the game better when in front. The Highlanders have dropped ten points from winning positions this season but on Sunday did enough to keep the points in Guwahati.
“The problem in the second half was that when they received the ball we were just dropping back. We didn’t want that. We needed to push out as the moment we pressed them we were able to reach their goal easily. The moment we left the space in the middle, we suffered, especially after that first goal,” he said.
“These are young players who are eager to win. It’s important to be calm but it’s easier said than done. You need to be very strong in your head and it’s not easy,” he added.
Goalkeeper Gurmeet Singh made a big save at the death to keep Odisha FC at bay and Benali felt his goalkeeper was the player of the match for his team.
“Gurmeet saved 2-3 clear goals and was Man of the Match for me. He was very focused and gave a sense of calm to the defence,” he said.
Guillermo Fernandez also got on the scoresheet for the Highlanders and Benali highlighted the importance of having multiple sources for goals in his team.
“It’s important that other players are scoring goals and not just one player. Now we have Guillermo, Parthib, Jithin and Nestor apart from Alaaeddine,” he said.
“We have players with different traits. So, we can always score. The important thing is to be strong defensively as we know we are going to score,” he concluded. (ANI)
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