Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 1 (ANI): East Bengal FC (EBFC) head coach Oscar Bruzon lamented his team’s missed opportunities, especially in the opening half, as they played out a goalless draw with Mumbai City FC (MCFC) in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Friday.
The Red and Gold Brigade (EBFC) certainly appeared to be a determined side from the start, pressing high up the pitch in an attempt to force their opponents into mistakes. They maintained this relentless pressure throughout the first half, creating numerous goal-scoring chances, and doing everything right except for putting the ball in the back of the net.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Bruzon gave an honest evaluation of their tactical approach and their overall performance during the game.
“We wanted to surprise them (Mumbai City FC) in the first half with full energy. In the game that we played a couple of weeks back in Kolkata, we were holding and giving the initiative to them,” Bruzon said during the post-match press conference, as quoted from the official website of ISL.
“We understand that they go for long build-ups, combining with the full-backs, accumulating players in the central areas. So we wanted to force and provoke mistakes in their build-up. And I think that the plan in the first half was very good, we were full of energy, we won a lot of balls in the opponent’s half, and we created a lot of openings,” he added.
“It’s true that in the second half, the forces were more balanced, I think that it was more a 50-50 game, but the pity is that we could not convert the large number of chances that we had in the first half,” Bruzon continued further.
Greek forward Dimitri Diamantakos endured another frustrating evening, hitting the woodwork twice in the match, but he couldn’t break his goal drought.
Diamantakos has now gone six matches without finding the back of the net, but Bruzon stayed hopeful that the forward will soon overcome this tough patch and find his form again.
“He (Diamantakos) hit the post twice. So today he was very close. It’s true that the strikers sometimes are coming through this run of games not scoring,” he said.
“But it’s true also that he’s having good supply either from (Richard) Celis on the left, from Vishnu on the right, even David was there in central areas, Mahesh channelling all our attacks,” he added.
“Diamantakos is a box player, he has to be there, and the moment he scores one goal, I’m sure that he’s going to turn it around, change the luck, and get a good run of goals,” he noted.
We were the best team today on the pitch, but we came here for three points and we could not get them, so it’s okay, but it could have been better,” opined the Spanish coach.
East Bengal FC secured another important point to their tally, moving up to 10th place in the table with 18 points from 18 matches, but remained well below their target position. The goalless draw also meant they remained unbeaten and are yet to concede a goal against the Islanders in the ISL in Mumbai.
The Kolkata Giants could only field three foreigners on the pitch, with Hijazi Maher and Cleiton Silva joining the growing list of injuries.
Despite the challenges, Bruzon appreciated the point but once again expressed disappointment over the missed opportunities in the first half.
“We are going through a very difficult moment, and regarding this, I think that the only point that we have is that today, the depth of our squad is clear. That Mumbai City FC, they did changes to try to win the game. And we had more limitations to improve the team in the second half,” he said, as quoted by the official website of ISL.
“So, a lot of injuries. But I think that the team in the first half, probably played today one of the best first halves of the season. But we could not get that desired goal that would allow us to save more energy in the second half and be solid,” Bruzon commented. (ANI)
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