ISL 7: We are losing games in 'most important' moment of season, says Lobera
Feb 21, 2021
Panaji (Goa) [India], February 21 : Mumbai City FC head coach Sergio Lobera is disappointed after suffering a defeat against Jamshedpur FC and said his team is losing games in the "most important" moment of the season.
Jamshedpur FC secured a 2-0 win over Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2020-21 at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco on Saturday. Second-half goals from substitutes Boris Singh and David Grande earned the three points for Jamshedpur.
This was Mumbai City's second back-to-back defeat, having faced a 4-2 defeat against Bengaluru FC on February 15.
"In the most important moment of the season we are losing games. Against Bengaluru FC, we created a lot of chances and were good in some periods of the game. [Normally] We are strong on the ball but in the first half, we couldn't string together 10 passes. It's difficult for us playing against a very good team. If we easily give them chances (to score), then this situation is possible," Lobera said after the match.
Adding to this, the head coach explained the factors that contributed to their loss against Jamshedpur FC. "We were using long balls to try and arrive quickly against good and tall defenders who were comfortable. We didn't manage the situation well. We need to keep possession of the ball. We need to try and find the spaces in the opponent's half," he said.
First-placed ATK Mohun Bagan now stand a chance to seal the top spot with a game in hand when they play Hyderabad FC on Monday. Sharing his thoughts on the same, Lobera said, "Till now, we depended on ourselves. But now, we have to wait for the result on Monday. It is a difficult situation. I think that the game between ATK Mohun Bagan and Hyderabad FC is not an easy game, and if they do not win, we will have our chances again."