ISL 2018-19: "Some decisions by the referee were crazy," says Jamshedpur FC coach Cesar Ferrando

NorthEast United FC put up a valiant display to hold of Jamshedpur FC to a hard-fought draw with 10men. Mislav Komorski was given the marching orders just before the half-time whistle and NorthEast United had to play with ten men for most parts of the game.

The Highlanders did take the lead in the first half through Bartholomew Ogbeche as the mercurial Nigerian striker finished off a half-chance brilliantly from inside the box.

Farukh Choudhary scored early in the second half to give the Red Miners the equaliser as he made full use of the man advantage to find free space in the box and finish off with a beautiful first-time shot.

Cesar Ferrando though wasn't happy with his team performance as he stated that his team kept repeating the same mistakes and have a lot of work to do if they are to reach the desired level. "My defenders and midfielders kept making the same mistakes, they play wrong, and when playing out from the back, they give away possession," is one of the mistakes that Ferrando pointed out.

Speaking about NorthEast United and their performance, the Spanish gaffer heaped praise on the way NorthEast played with ten men and also had very good things to say about the counter attacks NorthEast United had.

"Some decisions of the referee I don't understand, they were crazy. We had the ball, referee stops play, sends off a NorthEast player and gives them a free kick. It should have been a drop ball. Nowhere this rule is written and it crazy decision," is what Cesar Ferrando had to say about the refereeing decisions of the match.

He also mentioned that the same type of mistake was committed twice by the referee in the game where he should have played a drop ball but instead awarded NorthEast a free kick, and it hurt Jamshedpur because they were in possession of the ball.

Eelco was happy with a point but unhappy with his team's first-half performance. [Image: ISL]

Eelco Schattorie described the game in two sentences: "Very happy with a point under the circumstances and being undefeated. Totally unhappy with the way we played mainly in the first half." He praised his lads for the way they worked hard in the second half but was critical of their performance in the first half and felt that certain players were a bit overconfident and complacent.

The Dutch gaffer admitted that given his current situation his team is in, with their first choice goalkeeper and centre-back suspended, it puts his squad in a tight corner given he doesn't really like changing things around but said that his boys would cope with the situation and play to their strengths.

Eelco also mentioned that the rule of not being able to bring on another foreigner once a foreign player is sent off hurts teams at specific instances and he nearly made the mistake of bringing in Okrah once Mislav was red carded but was cautioned by his team manager from doing so. "The rules are rules, and we have to play by it. I admit I didn't do my homework well in this matter. But I would like it if the rule is changed in the future as only five players (foreigners) would be on the pitch."

Jamshedpur FC gaffer Cesar Ferrando said that given the tight scheduling of the league he has been forced to keep changing his side to keep players ready and fresh for the critical games, and that was the reason players such as Sergio Cidoncha, Tim Cahill and Michael Soosairaj didn't start the game against NorthEast.