Mohammedan SC head coach Andrey Chernyshov was content with the way his team played despite a 1-0 loss against Durand Cup champions NorthEast United FC in their opening match of the Indian Super League 2024-25 season at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata on Monday.

Despite dominating the possession with 60.2%, the home team failed to find the back of the net. Moroccan forward Alaeddine Ajaraie punished the hosts as he scored in the stoppage time to give all three points to his team.

“We could have won this match also. I said before that we need to take this ISL experience,” Chernyshov said in the post-match press conference.

“I think we did not play bad. We also created some good chances. We did not score, but they scored. This is where we need to work. We need to work on how we can score goals. I’m happy with how my team played; they kept fighting and running,” he added.

The Russian manager is optimistic that his team will deliver better performances as the season progresses.

Sharing his assessment of playing their first-ever ISL match, Chernyshov remarked, “Many people were worried about our first match because we are (moving) from I-League to ISL. There is a big difference between I-League and ISL. But we came to the ground and played nice football with many good actions.”

“We made some mistakes, and we need to be better there in the next matches,” he continued.

Mohammedan SC will next take on FC Goa and Chernyshov wants his team to find their A-game against the Gaurs.

“We are here (in the ISL) not only to gift points to other teams. If they want to take points, they need to fight against us like NorthEast United FC did today,” he stated.

“We continue to work and hope to be better match by match and start taking points,” Chernyshov signed off, sharing their target for the upcoming match against FC Goa.