MCFC head coach Petr Kratky urges honest self-reflection after Bengaluru FC defeat and playoffs exit

With this defeat, Mumbai City FC, the defending ISL Cup winners, have fallen short of the semi-finals after making it in the past two seasons.

This is just the third time Mumbai City FC have lost by a margin of 5+ goals in an ISL game; moreover, it's also the first time the Islanders have conceded four or more goals under Petr Kratky in the ISL.

The Blues were at their very best since the offset as they ran riot on their home turf. Suresh Singh Wangjam broke the deadlock within nine minutes on the clock, while Edgar Mendez's penalty doubled their lead at the stroke of halftime.

Zaragoza's men came out with a more attacking approach in the second half, as they scored three past Phurba Lachenpa to make it to the semi-finals. Ryan Williams' phenomenal solo run, followed by a clinical finish, saw Bengaluru FC score the third goal of the game. Coming off the bench, Sunil Chhetri and Jorge Pereyra Diaz also found the back of the net as the Blues steered past the Islanders by a mammoth scoreline.

Kratky urged his players to assess their performance and analyze what went wrong against Bengaluru FC as their ISL campaign came to an end.

"We have to reflect, every one of us. We have to go and look at ourselves in the mirror. That's where everything starts," he said in the post-match press conference.

"Things can go wrong; that's normal. But again, we have to be honest and not point fingers somewhere else, including players, staff, and everyone. We have to start within ourselves. So that was the message. We start today to keep moving forward. So, self-reflection is very important for us, but honest self-reflection," he added.

Bengaluru FC took advantage of Mumbai City FC's high-line defense, scoring crucial goals in the second half. Kratky addressed the way they conceded goals but stressed the need for improvement in certain areas.

"I think the halftime message was clear because we were 2-0 down with the penalty and the first goal. We play a lot of time with 10 men because of injuries.. We tried to regroup and keep fighting because, at the end of the day, it's effort. It's effort, nothing else. So we tried to help them tactically to stop Bengaluru FC. But again, the third goal, that's it. It killed us," he shared.

"Again, the ball is behind. Run, Goal, the same way. And again, the boys were trying to push forward, forward, forward. And again, the mistakes start accumulating when the goalkeeper goes out and doesn't clear the ball. Another goal. Then, you know, bad touch. Another goal. So, again, as soon as things go wrong, they usually go wrong very badly. But as I said, we have to reflect on the first half. I think there were a lot of things that needed to be improved," he continued.

Kratky acknowledged that the Blues were the deserving winners, considering their dominating performance in this high-voltage match where the semi-final spot was at stake.

"Today wasn't our day. We weren't good enough. Bengaluru FC deserved it," he said.

"It's painful to concede five, which I don't think overall quality of the team deserves; we don't deserve (conceding) five. But on the quality of the performance of both teams, I think mistakes would happen, you know; the scores say it all," Kratky signed off. (ANI)