I-League 2017-18: Luis Norton de Matos blames lack of experience after late Dudu goal crushes Indian Arrows

A late Dudu Omagbemi goal helped East Bengal beat Indian Arrows by a solitary goal and keep their I-League title hopes alive.

For Luis Norton de Matos, it was a tough loss to take but the Portuguese credited the opposition as deserving of the three points.

“East Bengal deserves to win today. This is football and sometimes things turn out to be like this,” the Portuguese coach said at the post-match press conference.

The Arrows coach said that his boys will learn from losing a match in such circumstances.

“I am unhappy because the boys are really sad after losing a close match. But this loss is a part of their process of learning,” he remarked.

Matos once again harped about his boys’ inexperience as being a major factor for the loss.

“We were organised at the back but organization and good defending are two different things. We lost because our squad lacks experience,” he quipped.

On the other, the win came as a relief for East Bengal coach Khalid Jamil whose side now have 23 points from 13 games and are now just three points behind league leaders Minerva Punjab.

The former Aizawl coach credited his men for playing as a team and has already turned his attention to the business end of the season.

“I had complete belief on my players. The result is for the players. Today we played as a team. I substituted (Cavin) Lobo with Brandon (Vanlalremdika) as the latter played well in the last match. We must move forward as there are some important games coming up,” Jamil said before signing off.