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Odisha FC narrowly emerged victorious against SC East Bengal in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Monday. After the 1-2 loss, SCEB coach Mario Rivera opined that his side played better than the Juggernauts and deserved to win.
Odisha FC opened the scoring early through Jonathas de Jesus but SC East Bengal equalized in the second half through Antonio Perosevic. The Juggernauts had one final trump card in Javi Hernandez, who tucked home the 75th-minute winner.
Speaking about the game, Rivera said:
"I think that we had the chance to win the match. We played better than them and we created more chances. I think we just have to win that but, we couldn't. We tried till the end but we couldn't."
The Red and Gold Brigade's new signing Fran Sota made yet another substitute appearance in the game against Odisha FC. However, the Spanish midfielder is yet to start any matches for SC East Bengal. Asked when fans might get to Sota in action from the start, Rivera said:
"Yeah, 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."
After the loss, SC East Bengal's final hopes of qualifying for the knockout phases have been absolutely squashed. With the ISL team now out of top-four contention, the coach was asked how the team would approach the remaining games.
"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," Rivera said.
The detailed ISL fixtures are available here.
"Winning today was important for us" - Kino Garcia pleased with Odisha FC's performance against SC East Bengal
Meanwhile, Odisha FC's interim head coach Kino Garcia was extremely pleased with the win. His side returned to winning ways after a 1-1 draw against FC Goa in the last game.
Asked what he made of Monday's victory, Kino Garcia said:
"My thoughts, I’m really happy today because after playing a draw against Goa. That draw felt like a loss because we were winning until they scored a goal in the 95th minute. So, winning today was important for us, that puts us in contention for the semi-finals. Really happy about the result, we have to improve some aspects but happy about the victory."
The Odisha FC boss unsurprisingly felt his side were the deserving winners. Asked about the importance of the win in the context of the top four race, Garcia said:
"For us, it's really important because a win today as it gives us a chances of being in the semi-final. This win was really tough. There are a lot of good teams involved in this process. But we knew SC East Bengal have improved a lot under Mario Rivera. So, we knew this match gonna be really tough. We were really aware of the situation and we knew that a victory today for us was really important."
Odisha FC looked on top of the Kolkata giants in the first half, however, the Juggernauts seemed to take their feet off the gas in the second half. SC East Bengal found a way back into the game through Perosevic's goal. Asked about the second half, the Odisha FC coach said:
"In the first half, we were better. But it's true that we didn't create many chances even even we had more possession that time. I feel that we have a pleasant first half. In the second half, I think that SC East Bengal improved and maybe also because we were a little nervous because we wanted to win this match, some bad passes and little misunderstanding in the team. After the draw, we started attacking again and we had some clear chances to score the second and maybe another goal."
