Cesar Ferrando not surprised with ATK's gameplay, Steve Coppell happy with the draw

The visitors equalized only minutes after conceding against Jamshedpur FC through a wonder-strike.

Jamshedpur FC picked up their first home point with a 1-1 draw against ATK at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Sunday. Sergio Cidoncha opened the scoring for the hosts with a long-ranger, while Manuel Lanzarote bagged his first goal for ATK at the death of the first period with an outrageous effort from a corner.

Head coach of Jamshedpur, Cesar Ferrando was present at the post-match press conference to share his thoughts on the match. He was visibly disappointed with the final result, stressing that his side played the better football. “We had to win the match, we made one mistake in the first half and paid the price. I feel we played better than our opposition. We must defend better in set pieces. We were involved in the game for long periods. We need to work on our set pieces.”

The Spaniard also admitted that he was not surprised with ATK’s tactics, with Manuel Lanzarote being the chief instigator from midfield. “Nothing particularly surprising about their play. We had expected that Lanzarote would play balls over the top in behind our defence from deep in midfield, but because of one mistake we conceded a goal.”

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From ATK’s end, head coach Steve Coppell was present to answer the media’s questions, where he admitted that he was happy to come away with a draw, given the quality of the opposition. “After the first half, I was really pleased to go into the break at 1-1. They got into some really good positions and we seemed to be chasing the ball. So, when Lanzarote scored, it gave us an opportunity to tinker a bit with the team. Jamshedpur are a good side and they have got some really good players, so we are happy to come away with the point.”

The Englishman also provided an update on Kalu Uche, who was surprisingly left out of the squad. “We trained in the morning and he started feeling his hamstring. If tonight was a cup final, he probably would have played. But in view of the fact that we have got three games in ten days, I thought it would be best for him not to start because then he might put himself out for quite a long time. We missed him, but the others worked very hard and I can’t question the commitment of the players.”