"For the first time in five years, there was no favorite between Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal" - Carles Cuadrat

East Bengal FC head coach Carles Cuadrat has said that the recently fought Kolkata Derby was all about who performed well on the pitch instead of the on-paper favorite talk.

Speaking to the ISL's official website ahead of East Bengal FC's away fixture against NorthEast United FC on Saturday (February 10), the 55-year-old said,

"I’m very happy that for the first time in five years, there was no favourite between Mohun Bagan SG and East Bengal, and the things happening in the game showed which team should’ve won the three points"

The pulsating match which was played at the Salt Lake Stadium in front of a huge number of passionate supporters of both clubs on February 3, ended in a 2-2 draw with the points being shared between the two Kolkata giants.

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"We are trying to have a team that can fight for being in the higher statures of the ISL" - Carles Cuadrat

An optimistic Carles Cuadrat heaped praise on his team for having made it to two cup finals and for providing a tough challenge to some of the top teams. The Red and Gold Brigade gaffer opened up by saying:

"We are trying to have a team that can fight for being in the higher statures of the ISL. We’ve been in two finals until now and shown against the champions of the last season, like Mohun Bagan, Mumbai City and Odisha FC, that we can win games against them and put them in trouble"

Admitting the fact that his side is struggling in the offensive aspect of the game, the Spanish manager went on to express:

"In 22 games, we’ve only lost four games so the team is competitive. But we are struggling in the offensive part of the game, as we are not scoring enough goals to make the differences bigger. So that’s why we have changed some players in our team, like we have Victor and Felicio here now and I hope they can give us more numbers in attack. We are also promoting youngsters like Sayan and Vishnu and they give us good chances in the attack"

Affirming that East Bengal FC should have had more points by now than they have, Carles Cuadrat added:

"As a club, we are doing a lot of things – the team is working well and every game we’ve had chances to win the game. We’re in a position where we should have more points, sometimes due to decisions not in our hands and sometimes due to our mistakes."

With 12 points from 11 matches, the 2024 Indian Super Cup winners are currently placed in the ninth spot in the ongoing ISL points table. Carles Cuadrat's men will be looking to grab maximum points from the remaining eleven fixtures to further increase their chances of making it to this season's playoffs.