ISL: Didn't deserve to lose game against Kerala, says Owen Coyle
Mar 12, 2022
Fatorda (Goa) [India], March 12 : Jamshedpur FC suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat in the first leg of their Indian Super League (ISL) semi-final clash to Kerala Blasters FC at the PJN Stadium in Margao, Goa on Friday.
JFC head coach Owen Coyle felt that his side should have gotten more out of the game, but has revealed that they will try their best to qualify for the final.
Sahal Samad scored the only goal of the game in the closing phases of play in the first half and sealed the victory in KBFC's favour.
Owen Coyle in the post-match press conference said: "It gives Kerala Blasters the advantage for the second leg by one goal, but we could have been three goals up, the first half was some great play and we were terrific for that period."
"Then, a great finish for the kid who's a very good player. But defensively, we think we could have done better in that instance. But that being said, they got the goal and then defended in the second half. We kept pushing on, bearing in mind we're decimated by injuries. We were asked to have a quick turnaround in playing games. We're also asked to come into Fatorda to play a home game when Bambolim is our home pitch and really we should not be playing away from home. You should ask the league why Jamshedpur is forced to play in the shortest turnaround and games," he added.
Coyle further opined that Jamshedpur didn't deserve to lose the game based on the chances that his team had.
"That being said, if you were to analyse the game, then certainly we didn't deserve to lose the game tonight. But we did, because of the margins in this game. We were switched off for one instance, and we weren't clinical when we should have been. Had that been the case, we would be 2-3 goals good. So when you think back to what we're doing in the first half and if we do that, it will result in us getting to the final. And that's what we have to strive to do," he said.
Kerala Blasters FC will enter the arena once again against Jamshedpur FC in the second leg of the semi-final on Tuesday.
