Odisha FC head coach Sergio Lobera was delighted with a 2-1 win against East Bengal FC at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar on Tuesday but admitted they need to improve in the Indian Super League.
Talismanic striker Roy Krishna was able to put the home team in front as he scored in the 22nd minute. However, the Red and Brigade linchpin Diamantakos equalized for the visitors from a spot kick in stoppage time before the half-time whistle.
However, Mourtada Fall scored the winning goal for the Kalinga Warriors in the 69th minute to help his team bag all three points.
“I think the team showed character. Finally, we defended well as a team in the second half where we reduced the spaces for the opponent team. But the first half was very tough for us. We conceded a lot of chances and lost the ball in dangerous positions,” Lobera said during the post-match press conference.
“It was a crazy game, a kind of game that the coaches don’t like and we need to improve as we can’t give so many chances to the opponents as it’s not always easy to comeback like we did today,” he added.
Meanwhile, Provat Lakra was given a red card but the hosts could not take advantage. The Spaniard feels the visitors kept them at bay despite going down to 10 men.
“We could have killed the game before but the opponents were playing with a lot of players in attack. It’s not just about what we want to do. It’s also about what the opponent team is forcing you to do. We suffered but we defended well and most importantly you need to get points and victories,” he said.
“Results are important but as a coach I have to analyse. And from my analysis, I feel we need to improve. The result can’t change my mentality as a coach. We need to be ambitious and we need to improve,” he further stressed.
Lobera admitted they made mistakes, which gave opportunities to the opponents.
“All our chances for the opponents came from our mistakes. This way the opponent just has to wait for us to make a mistake,” he said.
“We need to find balance, reduce the spaces between the lines with and without the ball because when you are playing against teams with dangerous players, they can hurt us,” he added.
Odisha FC will next take on Mumbai City FC at the Mumbai Football Arena on Sunday.
