PANAJI
Jamshedpur FC staged a brilliant comeback in their 2020-21 Indian Super League game against Hyderabad FC to earn a point, but head coach Owen Coyle feels his side should have won their first game of the season after a draw and a defeat in their previous two games.
“Hyderabad have some very good players. Some of the Indian players have been doing very well this season and they deserve enormous credit for that. We never played well in the first half and Hyderabad were a little bit better, but not really any goal scoring chances,” Coyle said. “In the second half, there was a lot more intensity from us, should have taken the lead but then we conceded. From that point on, there was only one team trying to win the game. We never let our heads drop. We picked ourselves up and went again, and we feel bad not to have won the game after that second half.
“As much as Hyderabad were breaking in the second half, we were the team that forced everything on. I think that the second half was much better from us.
“We were not good enough in the first half and at half time I let the team know that. Because at the end of the day, we want to make sure that we show that intensity that we want to be known for. I feel like we could have won the game. There are some areas to work on but there is a lot of spirit and we need to continue in the same vein to continue and pick up the valuable three points instead of drawing games.”
An unmarked Aridane Santana scored Hyderabad’s goal in the 50th minute after Jamshedpur goalkeeper Pawan Kumar’s half-stop fell onto his feet to slot it home. When asked what aspect of play his team need to work on, Coyle didn’t have to think long to reply. “Better defending. We cannot allow a shot on goal. We have shown that we can score goals, so we can rectify that (the defending),” he said.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad FC assistant coach Thangboi Singto appeared satisfied with his team’s performance as they remained undefeated in the league so far with one win and two draws. “It would have been great to go back with the three points but knowing Jamshedpur, with their very experienced head coach who kept motivating his side from the sidelines, we are very proud of our performance. The result was okay but performance-wise, we are very happy,” he said.
Singto also charted as to what his team need to do going forward. “We need to score goals but it’s not that easy… Aridane is our main guy but this is a big platform for any of the youngsters to shine. Going forward, hopefully, we can score more goals and win more matches,” he said.
The Hyderabad assistant coach was also impressed with the way Hero-of-the-Match Mohammed Yasir and Liston Colaco went about their game on the night. “They are young and up-and-coming like many of the Indians that we have. They just need to keep their heads down and keep working hard. They have a long way to go but we are happy with their progress,” he said.
