ISL 2021-22: We had many clear chances to win the match – Odisha FC’s Kino Garcia

Odisha FC head coach Kino Garcia was disappointed after his team played a 1-1 draw against ATK Mohun Bagan in the 100th match of the ongoing Hero Indian Super League at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Thursday. Garcia said that they had many clear chances to win the match but unfortunately they weren’t able to grab them. Odisha FC was already knocked out of the semifinal race.

Tlang gave an early lead to Odisha FC as he found the back of the net in the fifth minute of the game. However, ATK Mohun Bagan was able to bounce back stronger as Kauko scored through the penalty after three minutes.

Kino Garcia said in the post-match press conference, “We knew that but here we are professional and want to compete in every match. We want Odisha FC to have a good season, we also try to make the fans proud. I think today we had a really hard game against ATK Mohun Bagan but honestly, we had many clear chances to win the game”.

In fact, Odisha FC could only take two shots on target whereas they had a possession of 41%. Furthermore, Odisha FC had a chance to take a 2-1 lead as they had a penalty in the 24th minute. But Javier Herandez couldn’t score as Amrinder Singh made a fine save while diving to his left.

Garcia added, “I think we had many chances. We had a plan against ATK Mohun Bagan, we knew how to close the spaces and I think that we didn’t suffer a lot against one of the best teams in the Hero ISL. We had really good chances, with Aridai and also the penalty so, I think that we had really clear chances during the game and I’m really proud of the performance of my players and how they gave everything today on the pitch.I think we had many chances. We had a plan against ATK Mohun Bagan, we knew how to close the spaces and I think that we didn’t suffer a lot against one of the best teams in the Hero ISL. We had really good chances, with Aridai and also the penalty so, I think that we had really clear chances during the game and I’m really proud of the performance of my players and how they gave everything today on the pitch”.

Meanwhile, both Odisha FC matches against ATK Mohun Bagan in the season ended in a stalemate. Garcia added that they try to prepare for every match with the same intent.

He said, “We prepare every match the same, with the same interest and with the same work. We try to work with better ideas and better plans sometimes, they work, and sometimes they don’t. I think that today the plan worked. If you remember against Chennaiyin FC, we have also had bad luck in having many chances and then receiving the draw and against FC Goa the same, so I think that football owes one to us because I think that the team deserves to be higher in the league. Thinking in some matches that we did not get the three points because of small details and against ATK Mohun Bagan, we knew the power that they have but we knew how to close the spaces. But as you know sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. I think that today the team was good”.

Odisha FC will play their last league stage match against Jamshedpur FC at the Athletic Stadium on 4th March.