Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) [India], March 6 : Odisha FC head coach Sergio Lobera was delighted with his team's performance as they secured a hard-fought victory over Jamshedpur FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Wednesday.
The Kalinga Warriors took a 2-0 lead into half-time and extended their advantage early in the second half when Hugo Boumous netted his second goal of the match. However, Jamshedpur FC mounted a strong comeback, with goals from Jordan Murray and Stephen Eze setting up a tense finish. Despite the late scare, Odisha FC held on to claim all three points.
The win lifted Odisha FC to sixth place in the standings, keeping their playoff hopes alive. However, their fate now depends on Mumbai City FC losing both of their remaining matches to secure a spot in the knockouts. Lobera was pleased with his team's overall performance but also acknowledged their lapse in the final moments.
"It's not easy to play here against a very strong team. We played very well. We had chances to score more goals. The only situation I am not happy with is the need to suffer at the end of the game where I think we played very well and we had more chances to score a lot of goals. And we conceded two silly goals and finally, we were suffering. But I'm very happy with the performance of the team," he said in the post-match press conference.
Jamshedpur FC's goals both came from set pieces. Murray converted from the spot while Eze found the net with a glancing header off a throw-in. Unlike their previous matches from the season, Odisha FC did not dominate possession but managed to hurt the opposition and capitalise on their chances.
"I think we dominated more than these minutes (at the end). We dominated the game in different ways. If dominating a game means having more possession of the ball, then we didn't do it during 90 minutes but I think we dominated the game because when we were recovering the ball, we were taking advantage of the spaces the opponent gave to us. We spoke about this to our players before we started the game. Today we were very dangerous in counter-attacks also and we had clear chances. We needed to be more clinical and capitalize on our chances. We could have scored the fourth goal. In two actions, I think they scored two goals. Two very specific actions: one throw-in and one penalty. In general, I think we dominated the game against a very difficult and strong team," Lobera added.
Odisha FC, known for their possession-based style under Lobera, adopted a different approach in their final league match. They focused on quick transitions and counter-attacks, exploiting Jamshedpur FC's defensive vulnerabilities in the first half. Despite the tight scoreline, Odisha FC looked in control for large parts of the game, registering eight shots on target. Jamshedpur FC goalkeeper Albino Gomes was instrumental in keeping his team in the contest, making five crucial saves.
"When they are playing with (Javier) Siverio and Murray, they are a very attacking team and when they lose the ball, we can find the spaces behind them when we are breaking the line of pressure. We worked on that and we spoke with the players about this. In the transitions, we did very well. Dorielton did an amazing job and Boumous also understood very well what we needed to do today. We managed the situation very well in a different way. Usually, we are playing, trying to keep possession of the ball and trying to recover the ball. Today we were more vertical," Lobera concluded.