ISL: "FC Goa capitalized on our mistakes," says East Bengal coach Manolo Diaz

SC East Bengal's poor run in the Indian Super League 2021-22 continues as the Red and Gold Brigade lost against FC Goa on Tuesday. Goa defeated East Bengal 4-3 and now the Kolkata-based club is positioned at the bottom of the table with only two points in five games.

The crisis deepens for the Kolkata club as they remain the only club to not win a match so far this season. They came from behind three times but couldn't make it for the fourth time in the night. A brace from Alberto Noguera, a penalty strike from Jorge Ortiz, and an own goal from Perosevic see the Gaurs on top at the Tilak Maidan Stadium. For East Bengal, Antonio Perosevic scored two goals while Amir Dervisevic scored the other.

Following the defeat, Manolo Diaz addressed the media and accepted that his side made a lot of mistakes. Here is what he said during the post-match press conference.

On what went wrong

Out of their five games, the Red and Gold Brigade have now conceded three goals or more in three games. The team managed to keep a clean sheet against Chennaiyin FC however, the lack of communication between goalkeeper and defender was clearly visible once again tonight.

Coach Manolo Diaz replied, "We made a lot of big mistakes and Goa capitalized on them."

If Amarjit Kiyam is being played out of position

Coach Manolo Diaz has tried Amarjit Singh Kiyam in three different positions until now. Against Chennaiyin FC he started as a wide midfielder and today he was deployed in a more attacking position.

When asked if he is playing the Indian international out of his natural position, the Spanish tactician said, "Amarjit is a strong player. He has the ability to close in the opponents. So, he can play in midfield as well as in front of the opponent box."

On dropping Chima (Daniel Chukwu) and Sidoel (Darren)

As of now, Manolo Diaz has rotated a lot of the players to keep everyone involved and refreshed. Tonight, he left out his main striker Daniel Chima on the bench while Darren Sidoel was missing from the matchday squad.

Talking about the reason behind their exclusion the gaffer stated, "Darren is injured and we can't start with more than four foreigners so I kept Chima for the second half of the game."

On Semboi Haokip's lack of game time

Thongkhosiem (Semboi) Haokip is the only Indian goal scorer for SC East Bengal this season. The Indian forward scored against Odisha FC when he came on as a substitute. But till then, the coach hasn't used him much.

The coach answered, "Antonio and Chima are having more game time now. Semboi will surely get playing time in the future."