Odisha FC head coach Sergio Lobera shared his dissatisfaction with missing out on the opportunity to secure their consecutive home victory as the Kalinga Warriors shared the spoils with Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.

The match was action-packed from the start, with both teams scoring twice in the first half. The Blasters made a strong impression, taking a 2-0 lead within the first 21 minutes, thanks to their dynamic forward duo of Noah Sadaoui and Jesus Jimenez.

However, the hosts responded with determination, staging a rapid comeback and scoring two goals within seven minutes. Alexandre Coeff's own goal shifted the momentum, followed by Brazilian forward Diego Mauricio's equalizer, which showcased his poacher's instinct inside the box.

Despite both teams creating numerous offensive opportunities, the scoreline remained unchanged. This marks the fifth time Odisha FC have managed to draw or win a game after conceding a deficit of two or more goals in the league.

Lobera intersected the game into several phases while sharing his overall assessment in the post-match press conference.

“For me today there were four halves. In the first one, we conceded a lot of chances to the opponent team and conceded the goals. The reaction of the team in the (second half of the) first half was dominating the game, scoring two goals, and having opportunities to score one more,” he said.

“In the first part of the second half, we lost control of the ball during some periods because we lost possession of the ball. The last part of the four halves for me is the second half of the second half. Each team tried to win (in this phase). They (KBFC) could've won; we could've won. There was no midfield; it was box-to-box. This is the analysis from my side in terms of the different phases of the game,” the head coach explained.

A spirited performance from the #KalingaWarriors to level the scores after going two goals down early on. We will be back stronger 💪💜#OdishaFC #OFCKBFC pic.twitter.com/Y6UhNhODCX

— Odisha FC (@OdishaFC) October 3, 2024

The Spaniard commended his players’ efforts as they displayed their fighting spirit and resilient character while playing on home turf to come back into the game.

When quizzed about their comeback, Lobera remarked, “I think the comeback and the reaction of the team were very good after conceding the goals. But we need to put the focus on avoiding these situations. We conceded clear chances to the opponent during some periods of the game. We need to improve our mistakes.”

“Finally, my feeling is we lost two points more than we won one. We were playing at home, generating clear chances. It’s true that they (KBFC) also had some chances. But today we lost two points,” he continued.

After securing a promising victory against Jamshedpur FC, the Kalinga Warriors were unable to capitalize on their home advantage, missing out on another win in their third home match of the ongoing 2024-25 season.

In the second half, Hugo Boumous, Roy Krishna, Rahim Ali, and others generated several goal-scoring opportunities, but a lack of precision in the final third cost them crucial points against the Blasters.

In this context, the head coach stated, “It’s difficult to have a lot of chances against the opponent teams. When you have these opportunities, you need to kill the game. We need to be more clinical in the last step. We are the team that plays very open when we have the ball in possession. But we are suffering in transitions.”

“When we are losing the ball, the opponent team is finding a lot of space, especially in the first part of the game when we conceded two goals. In these transitions, we need to improve because, finally, we need to be compact and solid. Last season, we got lots of clean sheets. Until now, we don’t have any clean sheets. For us, the best way is to have possession of the ball,” he signed off.