ISL 2021-22: Disappointed with the result but proud of the players – Mario Rivera after losing Kolkata derby

SC East Bengal head coach Mario Rivera was disappointed with the result after his team lost the Kolkata derby against ATK Mohun Bagan as they lost the game by 3-1 in the 75th match of the Hero Indian Super League at PJN Stadium, Fatorda on Saturday.

Darren Sideol scored the opening goal of the match when he put SC East Bengal in front as he found the back of the net in the 56th minute. However, ATK Mohun Bagan equalized as Kiyan Nassiri scored for the Mariners in the 64th minute of the game. ATK Mohun Bagan ha their chance to take a lead in the 67th minute but David Williams could not convert his opportunity.

In fact, it looked like the match will end in a draw but Kiyan Nassiri scored twice in injury time to help his team bag three crucial points.

Mario Rivera said in the post-match press conference, “Yeah always, when you lose there is a little disappointment but we have to be proud of our players, they fight a lot and we could have won the match, we played how we wanted but, we have a very bad situation with the injury in the first half we missed the only option to turn for defense and it was exploited”.

SC East Bengal head coach added that they wanted to close out the game but they could not score the second goal and thus ATK Mohun Bagan had a chance to bounce back after they equalized in the 64th minute.

Rivera added, “Yeah we wanted to, of course, we wanted to keep the result but they scored, they drove very fast and we didn’t have time to adjust and if we got some time between our first goal and the equalizer, it would have been a very different match”.

SC East Bengal has managed a solitary win in the ongoing season and they have suffered seven losses, which is so far the most in the tournament.

Talking about the positives despite the loss, Rivera concluded, “The positives are the attitude and the fight of our players. They followed the plan that we wanted. We had bad luck with the injury in the first half but we have to be proud of our match and we are ready to go for the next match and try to win”.

SC East Bengal will next take on Chennaiyin FC at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Wednesday.