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Jamshedpur FC interim head coach Scott Cooper felt his team was unlucky as they went down to Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday and said that they should have won the game with the ball possession they enjoyed during the match.
It was a closely contested game in Kochi, with the defences of both teams standing tall. However, it was Kerala Blasters FC who got the breakthrough late in the game through captain Adrian Luna, who netted his second goal in as many games. Reflecting on the result, Cooper felt his side was superior to the Blasters and believed they deserved more from the game. "We were clearly the better team. There is no doubt about that," Cooper said in the post-match press conference as per ISL press release. "Kerala (Blasters FC) had a 15-minute spell in the second half. They did absolutely nothing in the first half. They were at their home stadium in front of their own fans, but they could not play out of the press. They could make three passes in the first half to break out of the press. So I am proud of my team's performance and proud of the press and our possession. We should have run away with this game with our possession and the press, and that is what happens when you do not use possession and pressing advantage you have got and finish your thing," he said. While Cooper was pleased with his side's pressing and possession of the ball, he felt their finishing cost them against the Blasters. "We knew Kerala (Blasters FC) were going to come strong at us with the fans. We took the fans and team out of the game in the first 20 minutes. That was always the plan and it worked. But you have got to get something for that (the possession and pressing). You cannot just be doing it; you have got to get something for it, and we did not. Fair play, it was a good finish by the boy (Luna), but I do not think we deserved to lose this game," Cooper explained. After two games, Jamshedpur FC has logged just one point on the board and are yet to score a goal this season. They began their campaign with a goalless draw against East Bengal FC in Kolkata. They will return home this weekend as they take on Hyderabad FC and will aim to register their first win of the season. Cooper called for his forward line to put on their scoring boots. "We have got to score goals. It is two games with no goals. The goalkeeper, Sachin Suresh, made good saves, and in set-pieces, we were quite unlucky. But there are moments in our striking department where we can do better. The possession and the pressing were good; it is just that the last third of shooting and finishing, it is got to click. So there are areas to look at. But if you look at game one and game two, there is been massive development in the team in terms of how we press and possess the ball. We were desperately unlucky in this game. I do not think Kerala (Blasters FC) deserved to win, and I definitely know we did not deserve to lose," he signed off. (ANI)
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