While Bagan coach Karim praises his side, Chirag coach Subrata accuses him of playing negative football.

By Garima Verma

As they say, if gambling is a way of getting nothing from something, Karim Bencherifa showed how in football it could be a way of getting everything.

First, the Bagan coach threw in his second-choice custodian Shilton Paul into a crucial game like IFA Shield semi-final against Chirag United and then, after Shilton gave a great performance, he withdrew him and sent Sangram Mukherjee for the penalty shootout at Salt Lake Stadium.

"That's football," Karim said after the triumph. "Maybe I am not a good coach. I am a young enough coach at 41 but I am a lucky coach," he said with a wide grin on his face.

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"Shilton was no doubt a gamble. He was feeling confident going into the match, so, I gave him the chance. But then in the penalty shootout, we needed someone with the experience of handling the pressure. Sangram responded very well."

Though Chirag looked the more threatening unit during the clash, but Karim was all praise for his side.

"We had full control in the second half. We should have been awarded a couple of penalties as well.

"Today we gave many lessons to others. We showed them how Bagan are better-organised, tactically superior and always ready to give their heart out."

His counterpart Subrata Bhattacharya, however, accused Bagan of playing negative football. "Despite not having the whole first-choice squad for the match, we played the game in a good spirit but the opposition was just playing negative brand of the game once they lost Chidi," he said.

Subrata also criticised the refereeing.

"All the referee was doing was giving wrong corners, wrong free-kicks and letting go the dangerous tackles unnoticed," he said, adding, "It wasn't that the Sangram move was the deciding factor. It was anybody's game. But they completely changed their style and went on the defensive. It was just a little bad luck that we missed the ample chances we got to score."

Even with Bagan down to 10 men, Chirag failed to take the advantage. Karim, though, agreed that "Chidi definitely deserved the card", he defended his own aggressive behaviour regarding some decisions.

"In EPL also, when the players and the managers get frustrated by the referee they argue with him. If I was wrong, the referee could have shown me the card."

When asked about a probable disciplinary action against Chidi, who almost cost them the match, he said, "It's too early to think about that. He himself was very disappointed. Right now I have to focus on the next 48 hours."

Indeed, Karim will be all focused as the rivals are none other than his earlier team, the Churchill Brothers.