Kerala Blasters were held to a 1-1 draw against East Bengal in the ISL 2021-22 clash at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Goa on Sunday despite their all-round dominance.
Defender Tomislav Mrcela (37') broke the deadlock for the Kolkata football giants while Alvaro Vazquez (44') restored parity for the Yellow Brigade just at the stroke of half-time.
Kerala Blasters head coach lamented that his team were poor in the final third but deserved all three points in the match due to their overall brilliance.
What was said?
"We expected that our opponents would come today with another shape and idea like it was the case and we wanted to dominate the game from the first moment. We knew that with that kind of high pressure and playing in the half of our opponent it would allow some dangerous counter-attacks. I like the character that our players showed today. We are happy how we responded,' Vukomanovic said after the game.
"I wanted to get all the three points because I thought we were the better side. But we need to think positive because even those people who influence this game have to improve. They are also humans. We are all to help them otherwise it will all be shouting from the outside and these guys are also under pressure. People from ISL already told us at the beginning that we also have to help them. They will also invest to improve them in the next period. Actually, we want to continue," he added.
ISL MediaTalking about goalkeeper Albino Gomes' injury which is expected to keep him out for a long-time, the Serbian manager said that the management is still to decide on finding a replacement, in the next transfer window.
"We will sit down with the goalkeeping coach and management to talk about that. We still have to decide because Albino went out for further examination and treatment," he said.
The Yellow Brigade will next take on defending champions and current league leaders Mumbai City FC on Sunday and the coach expects it to be a tough contest.