NorthEast United FC failed to breach Jamshedpur FC’s resolute defence as they came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline thanks to a wonder-goal by Wellington Priori at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Saturday. The defeat ends the Highlanders’ slight hope of making it through to Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18’s playoffs, as they stay rooted to the second-last position on the table. The visitors’ experienced defender Robert Lalthlamuana tried to thwart the hosts attacking ventures but fell short in front of their moment of brilliance. After the final whistle, he spoke with indiansuperleague.com on the game and beyond. Here are the excerpts.

Your thoughts on the game?

It was a tough game as Jamshedpur have a good defence. In the first half, we had a few chances, but that is football. I think we deserved to win but they got a few chances and they scored one. That’s how it is!

How tough was it to break Jamshedpur FC’s defence?

Yes, naturally they have a very good defensive organization and good defenders and goalkeepers as well. So, it was very difficult to break them.

What do you think of Priori’s fantastic goal?

Yes, it was quite fantastic. It was a great goal!

What will the team look forward to going ahead?

We know where we are now, but we are professional footballers. We will try to finish as well as we can.