ISL 2019-20: 'Even when we were losing, team kept up the composure,' says Josep Gombau after Odisha FC hold Chennaiyin FC to a 2-2 draw
Odisha FC had to be content with a third consecutive draw as they battled back twice to force a 2-2 draw against Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League on Thursday evening.
Josep Gombau's side were dominant in the first half with their possession and attacking play, but failed to get a breakthrough which ensured the game was goalless at half-time. However, hosts Chennaiyin came out with renewed vigour in the second half and took the lead twice, but both times Odisha managed to find the equalizer.
Xisco Hernandez made it 1-1 in the 54th minute and Aridane Santana made it 2-2 in the 82nd minute to ensure that the visitors left Chennai with at least a point.
Gombau, after the match, was very happy with the way his side fought back from a deficit twice, but felt they could have come away with all 3 points had they made their dominance in the first half count.
Disappointed with the result. In the second half, it was an open half with both teams attacking. We did not want that because we like to control the game with possession. First half was very different. We created chances but could not score. We controlled the game. Maybe if we had scored, we could have won. Chennaiyin did not create anything in the first half.
Gombau made a half-time substitution replacing midfielder Vinit Rai with Bikramjit Singh, a move he said was guided by Rai being on a yellow. But just five minutes into the period they conceded the opener.
Vinit was on a yellow so I replaced him with Bikramjit because I thought he can give us some experience, but after that one mistake in the midfield, we lost a goal.
The Spanish coach also had to take out influential midfielder Marcos Tebar later on after shifting him to play in the back-line as centre-back Carlos Delgado suffered an injury. Gombau said Tebar had been dealing with an upset stomach which forced him into the substitution.
The fact that his side battled back despite these setbacks was something he was very pleased about.
The good thing is that even when we were losing, the team kept the composure to score again. We had to deal with an injury to Carlos and Marcos was not feeling very well before the game. But we scored the second goal. We had the mentality to attack and collect at least a point.
Courtesy of a yet another goal, Santana took his tally to 4 goals and is now the joint-top goalscorer this season, alongside Jamshedpur FC's Sergio Castel. The Spaniard scored his goal in style, striking a first-time shot low and hard past Vishal Kaith to give the latter no chance of saving the attempt.
Gombau had plenty of praise for his strike man and said -
He is a high quality player, but very humble guy. He has terrific finishing but also creates and plays between the lines. I am happy with his performances. He also interacts and teaches his teammates a lot.
Odisha have now gone three games without a win, arresting some of the momentum from their bright start and when asked on why his team was producing some very good football without the results, Gombau said it was because he focused on playing the right way.
When you have to play my kind of football it is not easy. We try to play from the back. Our goals comes from elaborate attacking patterns. Today's football has become a game of mistakes. The team which makes less errors wins. We don’t score from transitions because that is for coaches who want to sit back and then attack. I am not that kind of coach. I prefer not to win a game and play my kind of football than sit back and win with a goal.
Odisha have their next two games at home starting with Bengaluru FC on December 4 before facing Hyderabad FC on December 11.