ISL Season 8: SC East Bengal once again ended second best as they lost to Odisha FC 2-1 in the Indian Super League on Monday night at the Tilak Maidan. SC East Bengal created several chances they could not convert them into goals, a problem that has stayed with them from last season. Follow all the ISL 2021-22 LIVE Updates only on InsideSport.IN
Jonathas and Javi combined for the former to slot in the first goal where Antonio Perosevic brought the Red and Golds back in the game with a smart finish. But ultimately they fell short as Javi came up with a great snapshot to deceive the entire backline and Sankar Roy in goal.
FULL-TIME | #SCEBOFC@javih89's winning goal gifts @OdishaFC a hard-fought victory over @sc_eastbengal at the Tilak Maidan Stadium! 🥵#HeroISL #LetsFootball pic.twitter.com/mcQdS1kvA5
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) February 7, 2022
Head coach Mario Rivera was highly disappointed as he once again believed that his men had the opportunity to win this fixture. Speaking after the 2-1 defeat, the Spaniard shared his thoughts from the game and he felt that his team played much better than the Kalinga Warriors.
“I think that we had the chance to win the match. We played better than them and we created more chances. I think that we just have to win that but, we couldn’t. We tried till the end but we couldn’t,” Rivera began at the post match press conference.
The biggest surprise when the team lists were out was seeing Sankar Roy replace Arindam Bhattacharya in goal. Bhattacharya last season won the Golden Gloves as he represented ATK Mohun Bagan and played a crucial role in helping the Mariners reach the ISL finals. However, Rivera did not give any definitive answer to drop Arindam as he feels that all goalkeepers are doing well and can play.
“All the goalkeepers are doing a very good job. They are training very hard and they are ready to play. Sankar Roy played a very good match today and in the last match Arindam played. We have now many players and if they are training well, they are all ready to play,” the Spaniard asserted.
SC East Bengal’s latest recruit Fran Sota has only got two substitute appearances and there he had limited minutes. When asked when he will get to start matches, Rivera once again pointed out how he is allowed to play four foreigners and plays the ones that are best suited according to him.
“We have foreigners and we have to play with four so, sometimes it’s difficult. We use Sota in the second half to try to come back and all of the foreigners played very well today. We will try to use the players that we think are the best to win the game,” explained the 44-year-old.
The Red and Golds have only four matches remaining and when quizzed what are the plans for the upcoming games, the Spaniard reiterated the same mantra of trying to win every game that they play.
“The plan is to try to win the next match. This is our plan we want to win every match and now we have to start to think about the next match and try to win it. Today, we saw that after the draw we wanted to win. We are not happy with drawing, if we are drawing we will go to try to win every much,” he concluded.
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