ISL 2022-23: Immensely proud of what the players have done, says Bengaluru FC head coach Simon Grayson

Bengaluru FC head coach Simon Grayson was proud of his players after they lost the Indian Super League 2022-23 final against ATK Mohun Bagan at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Goa on 4-3 penalties on Saturday. The match ended in a 2-2 draw after extra time but Juan Ferrando’s team, which kept their nerves in the penalty shootout.

Dimitri Petratos scored from the spot kick in the 14th minute. However, Bengaluru FC captain Sunil Chhetri equalized with a penalty at the stroke of half-time. Roy Krishna was then able to put Bengaluru FC in front as he scored in the 78th minute.

But Bengaluru FC once again conceded a penalty in the 85th minute and Petratos scored his second of the night to help his team bounce back. On penalties, Pablo Perez and Bruno Silva missed their kicks and thus ATK Mohun Bagan was able to clinch the championship.

Despite losing the final, Grayson was proud of his players’ efforts in the ninth season of the league.

“It’s very tough for the players and everybody connected with a club, to come this far, and (to) lose a major final on penalties. (It) is never easy to take but the words I said to the players was that they can be mentally proud of themselves. I’m immensely proud of what they’ve done, to say that four months ago, nobody gave us any opportunity, any chance we’d get to this stage of the season. What we did is we proved a lot of people wrong and we’ve had an unbelievable period of time. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t quite get to the magical line and get the breaks that you need in a penalty shootout,” Grayson said in the post-match press conference.

Meanwhile, the Blues were rocked on the backfoot early in the game as their talisman Sivasakthi Narayanan had to be replaced due to injury.

“We were rocked to lose Siva (Narayanan) in a minute, who’s been outstanding all season, and to lose up to that threat that we had so early on as a team but for the lad himself. He’s worked extremely hard to be on this stage but yeah, it’s just one of those nights that it didn’t go for us unfortunately,” he added.

The English manager added that every player gave 120% on the field and they were able to tick the right boxes in the tournament.

“The last words I’ve said in most of the games at this crucial stage of the season have been of no regrets. Every player can say to himself in the morning when he looks in the mirror that he gave everything and can say as a team, we didn’t quite get the breaks that you need in these close-fought competitions and matches. The other message that we said was when you see the opposition celebrate, use it as a motivation for next year or even in the Super Cup. When we have a few days off, we’ll come back in and try and win that so use it as a motivation going forward,” Grayson commented.

“The disappointment that we have is obviously equal to the amount of pride that I’ve got in the group of players. To see where we were and get to where we are. Sitting here now takes an incredible amount. Probably never been done in many, many countries so players can be proud of the atmosphere, and the number of supporters that grew, still singing at the end and then showing their appreciation for us, making the time and effort to come to us. This football club has always been about success and I’m sure it will be remembered and used as a motivation for tough success in the future,” Grayson concluded.