Josep Gombau: Players said first goal was offside

The Juggernauts failed to get a win against a struggling Bengaluru FC.

Bengaluru FC got their first consecutive wins of the season by downing Odisha FC 3-1 in Bengaluru in the first fixture of an ISL doubleheader Saturday. It was a good show from the Blues across all thirds of the pitch. For Odisha, this loss means that their bid to finish among the top six got a minor setback. After the game, Odisha head coach Josep Gombau attended the post-match press conference.

Reaction to the game

Josep Gombau expressed his thoughts on the game at the presser. He emphasized that they were the better side in the first 25 minutes but lost their way after conceding twice within a short period. He said, "In the first 25 minutes, we were in control. After we conceded the first goal and with all other strange situations, we lost our concentration and conceded the second goal. If you want to win a game, this is something that cannot happen to you as a team. We conceded two goals within a very short period. This shows that we lost our minds."

The tactician added, "After that in the second half we tried. We played with three players at the back when we had the ball and with four players when we did not have the ball. We pressed higher and tried to get a result. We scored a goal and were chasing the game until the last minute. I think this is a football game and when you make such mistakes, especially the two goals that we conceded in the first half, you get punished. We will keep working. We have six more games. Six more finals for us. We need to work hard to be in the top six."

On the protests that followed the first goal of Bengaluru

Josep Gombau stated the reasons for the protests that followed Bengaluru's first goal. He said his bench believed it was offside. He said, "What the players were saying is that it was offside. I cannot bring in my opinion now. Of course, I was very disappointed as the players. People on the bench were also thinking it was offside. I don't know what the officials felt. But that does not matter now. We could not score more than one goal and conceded three goals. That's what matters."

On the side's quality of football dipping after 25 minutes

Gombau admitted that his side's football quality dipped after the initial 25 minutes in which they were in control of the game. He stated, "In the first 25 minutes, we played the kind of game that we imagine while training. But we conceded a goal from a setpiece, which we know Bengaluru FC is very good at. They have many players who can score. But the main problem was to concede another goal from the next action. After that, you have to chase the result, which is another game. We will learn from this and we will try our best to avoid such mistakes. We want to be more competitive and be a team that will have more options to be in the playoffs or to win the trophy."

On starting the season well but not getting good results in the last few games

At the presser, Gombau talked about his side's recent results. He asserted that in many of the games in which they did not get any points, his team played good football. He said, "This is how football is. In many games, I think we should not have been punished. Now we have to focus on the games that we have from now on till the end. We cannot change the results of the last games. What we need to do is work very hard so that we can play well in the upcoming games to ensure that have a place in the finals."

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