After the international break, Kerala Blasters FC’s head coach Ivan Vukomanovic was satisfied with a 1-1 draw against Jamshedpur FC in the 20th match week of the ongoing Indian Super League 2023-24 at the JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur FC on Saturday.
The visitors were put in front by their talisman Dimitrios Diamantakos in the 23rd minute. However, the home team equalized as Javi Siverio scored at the stroke of half-time.
The Yellow Tuskers had 41.2% possession and took three shots on target and 10 off target. Both teams had their chances in the second half but could not find the winning goal.
“On one side, I am satisfied, because it is a positive result. In the previous period, we had a couple of bad results. We lost a couple of games and we were since a long time ago at that kept us on the edge of qualifying for the playoffs. Again, not using excuses about players we are missing and many things that are going against us. I should be happy and everyone should be happy,” Ivan Vukomanovic said in the post-match press conference.
He added: “First game after the break, to play at a high level, it would be difficult till the end because we had the competition cut with the national team break. The players did their best today. They ran their socks off. For both teams as a coach, I must say congratulations. Of course (I have) mixed feelings. We had chances. We could have won the game. On the other hand, the opponent had chances as well, so we could have lost,” he added.
The Serbian added that need to correct their mistakes to get the desired results after some close chances at the fag end of the match.
“As a coach, it doesn’t make you happy – the bad decision making. Especially in the last 10 minutes, there were situations where we absolutely had to do better. Then we were making these kinds of unbelievable mistakes where we were allowing the opponents to create chances from nothing. Actually, we could have had the game under control and score a goal. As a coach, it was not nice to stay on the side and watch all that because it makes you nervous. On the other hand for the fans, it was interesting because they can see chances,” he expressed.
Kerala Blasters FC will next take on East Bengal FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi on Wednesday.
