ISL 2024-25: We had many chances to win the game, says Benali after draw against Kerala Blasters FC

NorthEast United FC head coach Juan Pedro Benali admitted they had many chances to win the game against Kerala Blasters after their 1-1 draw in the Indian Super League at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati on Sunday.

After a goalless first half, Moroccan forward Alaeddine Ajaraie scored in the 58th minute to continue his rich form as this was his third goal in as many games. However, Kerala Blasters FC equalized after their talisman Noah Sadaoui scored after 11 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Highlanders had 41.1% possession and took three shots on target.

“Congratulations to Kerala (Blasters FC). They took a point from here. We could have won the game. We had many chances to win the game. I think we did a good game. We need to look forward to (the game against) FC Goa,” Benali said in the post-match press conference.

He further added: “We need to be a little bit more poised. We are very nice people, we need to be bad boys a little bit.. To show teeth and bite a little bit more. If we do it, we will arrive very far.”  

The Spaniard also shared his disappointment as his players could not stick to the game plan.

“We keep repeating the same mistakes. At the moment, we need to be patient with the ball. Sometimes, we are in a hurry. When we have something working very well, we stop doing it. We were doing everything from the left side and we stopped going there and tried going from the right side. This is an example. Set-pieces, we were hurting them very well. We had to be patient and keep going but we just stopped. We tried to do something new and then we went out of the game plan and then we suffered,” he explained. 

NorthEast United will next take on FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Goa on 4th October.