Odisha FC head coach Sergio Lobera admitted it was a very tough game for them after their 2-1 loss against Chennaiyin FC in the 18th match week of the ongoing Indian Super League 2023-24 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

The home team took a 1-0 lead as Ankit Mukherjee scored in the sixth minute of the game. However, the Kalinga Warriors were able to bounce back as Roy Krishna equalized in the 78th minute.

When it looked like both teams would share the spoils, Jordan Murray scored the winning goal for the Marina Machans in stoppage time.

“Today was a very tough game for us,” Lobera stated in the post-match press conference.

“I think we created chances; we had our opportunities, but we didn’t score. When you have chances and you’re not scoring goals, maybe this kind of situation can happen,” he added further.

Meanwhile, the Spaniard substituted off star midfielder Ahmed Jahouh at halftime and brought in Cy Goddard but the latter could not deliver.

When asked about his move, the head coach replied, “He was very tired. I spoke to him during halftime; he was tired from the beginning of the game.”

Lobera admitted that Chennaiyin FC were the better team and deserved to win.

“Today, it was more about the performance of the opposition than ours. They are a strong team and they played very well today,” he said.

“We feel they were better than us in some situations. We need to improve and learn from the mistakes and we need to keep going because we are in a good situation and we need to keep going in the remaining four matches,” Lobera commented.

Odisha FC will next take on Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru on 30th March.