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The enthralling ISL clash at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on Friday, November 18, witnessed East Bengal's catastrophic collapse against a resilient Odisha FC side.
After the game, East Bengal head coach Stephen Constantine apologized for his side's poor showings in the second half.
In the post-match press conference, when asked about the result, the English tactician averred:
"At half-time, I asked the players to forget about the scoreline and play like it was 0-0. We had a very good first half but knew they were going to come out and attack us as they to get back into the game quickly.
"But we switched off, committed school-boy errors, left players unmarked and completely free. They have quality players and we were punished. It was very poor from us."
Following goals from Semboi Haokip and Naorem Mahesh Singh, the Red and Gold Brigade went into the half-time break with a comfortable 2-0 lead.
In the first 45 minutes, they looked and played like the superior side on the pitch. But coming out after the break, the Juggernauts were hungry while East Bengal looked clueless.
Odisha scored two consecutive goals in the 47th and the 48th minute through substitute Pedro Martin. The Spaniard's brace leveled the scores but soon after, Jerry Mawihmingthanga, who came off the bench, completed the comeback for the Juggernauts.
Nandhakumar Sekar added a fourth as Constantine was left stunned by the lack of response from his side as they slumped to a 4-2 defeat. The former Indian national team head coach stated:
"We have to hold our hands up and I apologize for the second-half performance on behalf of the players. It's not good enough for East Bengal. You can't play like this after the 90 minutes against Bengaluru FC."
"I told them we can win the game" - Odisha FC boss Josep Gombau reveals his message to the players during half-time against East Bengal
After a classic comeback win over East Bengal, Josep Gombau, the head coach of the Juggernauts, lauded the character of his side.
Asked what his message was to the players during half-time, the Spanish gaffer revealed:
"In the first half, I was very disappointed but we spoke in the dressing room. I made four changes at half-time, which is a lot. I told them we can win the game. I feel we had to adjust just a few things and we also changed the mentality."
The win was pivotal for Odisha as it now takes them to third in the league standings, three points behind second-placed Mumbai City FC but with a game in hand.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata giants are now left navigating their way up from down in the eighth.
