Odisha FC head coach Sergio Lobera was delighted to claim all three points against East Bengal FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) match on Tuesday night but felt there is plenty of room for improvement for his team that secured just their second victory in five matches in the league.
The Kalinga Warriors went in front through Roy Krishna but were pegged back by Dimitri Diamantakos’ penalty for East Bengal FC at the stroke of half-time.
Lobera’s men came out a much better team in the second half and regained the lead through Mourtada Fall’s header.
A red card for Provat Lakra meant Odisha FC had numerical advantage and they made the most of it to close the game and claim 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 said.
Odisha FC couldn’t add to their goal tally after having a numerical advantage but Lobera felt East Bengal FC forced them to be cautious in the final stages of the match.
“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,” Lobera 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.
Addressing the areas for improvement, Lobera felt his team must keep hold of the ball better and thus deny opponents easy access to their goal.
“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,” Lobera
added.
The Spaniard though was delighted for the supporters who he believed have backed the team incredibly well this campaign.
