NorthEast United FC maintained their unbeaten run in the Indian Super League (ISL) season as they held Bengaluru FC to a 2-2 draw at the Fatorda Stadium on Tuesday, and head coach Gerard Nus was very happy with the fighting spirit his Team showed in this match.

“I’m happy with the fighting spirit, I’m happy with a lot of things that we have done. We have played five games since the league started that means a massive effort from the players. Last game was three days ago. Also, we tried to rotate players as much as possible because they deserve it. Because they are our good players,” Nus said after the game.

Both the teams played well but Bengaluru FC were better in terms of possession and creating chances. However, NorthEast were more clinical with the limited number of opportunities they got and now they have climbed up to the second spot in the table by virtue of this draw.

NorthEast United started the match in an aggressive manner and Nus also mentioned that their aim is to get three points from every match. However, he also stressed on the fact that his team has a lot to learn from their draw against Bengaluru FC.

“We tried to go for the three points in every game. But we know Bengaluru are a team which creates a lot of chances but mostly through set-pieces. It’s really sad to see that they punished us. We need to learn from this. We wanted three points but we got one. We see it as a positive,” Nus said.

It was Luis Machado who stepped up in this match for the Highlanders with a brace. His first goal in the match came as early as the fourth minute whereas his second goal came in the 78th minute, when it looked like Bengaluru would walk away with three points.

Apart from him, NorthEast’s other two forwards — Kwesi Appiah and Idrissa Sylla — have been quite impressive as well. Both of them have scored two goals each in this season and have looked really threatening. The defence has been pretty good as well and that’s why NorthEast have enjoyed so much success so early in the season.