We were the better team against NorthEast, claims Robbie Fowler

The SC East Bengal head coach also criticized Saturday night's match officials.

“It was schoolboy errors by us on the pitch. We have lacked a little bit of dynamics in the final third. We have work to do there,” said SC East Bengal head coach Robbie Fowler, after his team suffered their third consecutive loss in their debut season in the Indian Super League (ISL) against NorthEast United.

It was an early own-goal from Surchandra Singh that ruined the game for the Kolkata side. NorthEast continued with their possession football, as they showed eye-catching creativity causing problems for the Red and Gold’s defence. The last nail was put into EB’s coffin in injury-time, when Rochharzela scored for the Highlanders leading them to second spot in the table. 

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“We are missing our major players due to injury. We are up against a lot of things and we are trying to overcome all the odds,” said Fowler as East Bengal continued to struggle at the back without their main man Danny Fox, who picked up an injury early in the last game.

Speaking on the defensive lapses the tactician said, “Sometimes things become hard on the pitch in professional football when we fail to stop the ball. At the end of the day, we are accountable for what we do on the pitch and I hope by working hard in the training fields we can recover from it.” He further added, “Sehnaj (Singh) played really well today. We know what type of a player he is and he knows how to perform in the defence.”

ALSO READ: Rochharzela nets as NorthEast United edge SC East Bengal

The goal drought continues for East Bengal, as they once again failed to open their account in front of goal. But, Robbie Fowler seemed to be positive about his team’s offensive game, as he said, “We created few chances. The team whom we played against had won twice and drawn twice and I think we were the better team today against them.”

Quizzed about the penalty shouts, Fowler strongly criticized the match officials, “the penalties were incredibly hard to digest. Kerala Blasters got a penalty exactly the same early in the season, but we were disallowed here today.”

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