Hyderabad FC striker Bartholomew Ogbeche was happy to take a two-goal lead into the second leg of the Indian Super League (ISL) semi-final against ATK Mohun Bagan but felt his team needs to put in a stronger performance in the second leg to advance to the final.
Hyderabad FC came back from a goal down to beat ATK Mohun Bagan 3-1 at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim, Goa on Saturday but Ogbeche felt his team were too passive in the first half.
"The coach was mad during half-time because we didn't play according to the plan. I think we respected them a little bit too much. We gave them too much space, too much freedom, It shouldn't be like that," Ogbeche said in the post-match interview.
"I have to say luckily we got that goal just before half-time. After that we came out in the second half and we had to take the game to them and we did that very well. We were able to score two goals. We should have scored more but we are happy with the lead," he added.
But the Nigerian who is the top scorer in the ISL this season urged his teammates to be humble ahead of the second leg and lift their performance to make sure they reach the final.
"I think we have to constantly seek improvement. We can't be complacent and ultimately we have to be consistent. We can't play like we did in the first half. If we do that then we can just go home. That's not the way to play against a team like this," he said.
"We have to be honest. We are up against one of the best teams in the league so we can't be over the moon. We have to be humble. In four days time we got to be better than what we did today. We have to take the good things that we did today and take the game to them and see whatever happens, happens, but we can't show so much respect to them," he added.
Hyderabad FC will be wary of the firepower ATK Mohun Bagan possess in attack in the second leg as they aim to reach their first-ever ISL final. Ogbeche is confident his team will be ready for the second leg.
"In four days, you can count on us to come up with a better performance than what we did tonight," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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