Disappointed not to win against East Bengal, says Owen Coyle

The Jamshedpur FC boss also felt the sending off of Laldinliana Renthlei could have been avoided by the referee.

Jamshedpur FC played out yet another stalemate in the Indian Super League, against SC East Bengal on Thursday evening in Goa. While the Red and Gold Brigade were reduced to 10-men for most of the game, Jamshedpur failed to use the advantage in their favour. Following the match, the Men of Steel's head coach Owen Coyle spoke in the post-match press conference.

Owen Coyle sounded disappointed with the outcome of the match. "I think we are disappointed not to win the game," he began. "I think we had some chances to get that first goal, had we got that then I think we would have settled for the three points. It is another game unbeaten, we came in with the idea to try and win the game and we had chances, particularly in the first half. So, it is fair to say that we are disappointed," he added.

Alex Lima's Performance

Alex Lima had been carrying an injury, which was pointed out by Owen Coyle in the pre-match press conference. The 31-year-old delivered another gritty performance against East Bengal and speaking about it, the Jamshedpur FC head coach quipped, "I think Alex Lima was terrific tonight, that was a real positive for me. If we can get him up to his mark, still a little left. He looked lively tonight and came close to his best, so that was a real positive.

"There were one or two other positives as well, but the disappointment obviously of not winning the game. It is our first clean-sheet of the season and also it is the first time we haven't scored. Certainly, things to work on, particularly in the final third. We got into great positions, but we lacked that final ball, final cross. So, it is another game unbeaten and we will carry on from here," the tactician shared.

https://youtu.be/OlECL7_CxpU

Too dependent on Valskis?

Jamshedpur FC's ace striker Nerijus Valskis has started season brightly, scoring five goals before facing SC East Bengal. However, the Lithuanian striker failed to find the back of the net on Thursday night and Owen Coyle was asked whether his side have become heavily dependent on the striker to score goals regularly.

"Everyone needs to score goals. It is like saying Goa relying on (Igor) Angulo scoring goals or ATK Mohun Bagan relying on Roy Krishna. When you have wonderful strikers that's what they do, score goals. Tonight, Aniket (Jadhav) was through one-on-one, big Stephen Eze's header crashed off the underside of the bar, young William (Lalnunfela) was through a few times. We know Valskis is a wonderful player, that's why we brought him to the club," he explained.

Failing to make man advantage count

The Men of Steel had a numerical advantage for a long stretch of the game, yet they could only manage to churn out a draw. Owen Coyle was questioned if the team became complacent, a suggestion which he quashed entirely.

"No, we weren't complacent. I think we knew it is going to be a difficult game in the second half, particularly. It is our fifth game in 15 days. It is a huge ask from the boys and we have had loads of injuries, so we are certainly depleted in that respect. That's why we knew it was going to be a challenge, we just needed that first goal and we had chances to do that. On another day we would have won the game."

Laldinliana Renthlei's was sent off in the final moments of the game. However, the Jamshedpur FC boss felt it was unnecessary and the youngster should not have been booked in the first place.

"Well, I don't think the first yellow card was even a card and the second one was not even a free-kick. So, I felt it was very harsh and it could have been avoided by the referee. It should not have been two yellow cards for the fouls committed as far as I am concerned."

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Captain Speaks!

Jamshedpur FC skipper Peter Hartley also spoke after the game and agreed with Coyle's notion that his team would have won the match on another day.

"Very frustrating to say the least. East Bengal were down to 10 men and we had our chances to go and win that game. One another day, maybe we will win it by two or three goals," he opined.

The 32-year-old was asked what they could have done differently to break the resolute East Bengal defence. "I think we can move our full-backs higher and even as centre-backs we can step up and create overloads. We tried to create space by playing side-to-sid,e but the entire East Bengal defence was good and our final pass was not great. Also, we could have created more overloads as a team and pick more second balls," he concluded.

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