Gerard Nus: We could've had three points, it could've been in our favour

The Spaniard spoke on the back of his side's first defeat of the season.

NorthEast United’s unbeaten start to the season came to an end, after they succumbed to a 0-1 defeat against Jamshedpur FC. A well-worked goal finished off by Aniket Jadhav in the 53rd minute was the only one of the match. The Highlanders’ head coach Gerard Nus spoke to the media after the game. 

The Spaniard shared his thoughts about the loss saying, “I think we worked hard in the game. We had our chances. Obviously, we missed a penalty. Actually, they saved a penalty. It’s been a really tough game, really competitive. Proud of the effort again, that's something I cannot take away at all from what we have done, we fight. They are a good side. They’ve got great players and at the end of the day, we knew it would be a tight one. They got the three points, so congratulations to them.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJEJsjz_32o

Penalty miss

The Highlanders had a glorious chance to equalise in the 66th minute, when they were awarded a penalty after a foul by Stephen Eze on Benjamin Lambot. However, TP Rehenesh saved the spot-kick taken by Idrissa Sylla and Gerard Nus had his say about the missed penalty. “It’s something that happens. The player didn’t want to miss. Sylla wanted to score. The goalkeeper is there for a reason. They try to do their job and he did it well. That’s it. We learn from this. Let’s hope now the next one is going to be in. We also missed one penalty, I remember, in another game. It was another player, but that’s part of football. We learn from this and now we just think about the next game, which is Odisha.”

[KH_ADWORDS type="4" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS]

Lack of attacking intent

NorthEast United failed to take a single shot on target in the first half. On being asked if there was a lack of attacking intent up until the goal was conceded, Gerard Nus said, “I think we knew how to attack them. Didn’t work some of the things that we trained. We prepared because they are a magnificent side. It could have been in our favour. We could have had the three points. It could be a draw. In the end, we lost 1-0. As I said, now we learn and think about Odisha.”

ALSO READ: Aniket Jadhav strikes as Jamshedpur edge NorthEast United

Changing starting XI

The Highlanders’ head coach has kept changing his starting XI in every game they’ve played so far. On being asked if he thought this had an impact on his team’s performance, he said, “No, I think this is the analysis of the league. This is a result of many situations. Until now, it’s been proven correct. It doesn’t mean that just because you’ve lost one game, everything isn’t good. Not at all. We have to learn from this game. Take the positives, take the negatives and think about Odisha.”

[KH_ADWORDS type="2" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS]

Unbeaten streak ends

NorthEast United were unbeaten in the league before tonight’s defeat. On being asked how his team would respond to the end of the streak, Gerard Nus replied, “Well, now is when you actually see how the team sticks together. You know, sooner or later these things happen. Happened to almost every team, except two. Now is when we see the true characters. This is a test. We have to deal with it. Heads up, because the effort has been there. I am proud about that. But, there are things that we have to correct.

“Even in other games that we won or we got a point, we didn’t do everything perfectly. Not at all. So, as I said, things happen in a game. We are going to try to work hard to make sure it doesn’t repeat,” concluded Gerard Nus.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Twitter, Instagram and join our community on Telegram.