If it was a boxing game, we were closer to winning: Blasters coach Stahre after Odisha stalemate

Kerala Blasters' second away match of the ISL season against Odisha was end to end. Both sides fired an almost equal number of shots on and off target (Odisha 4/10 and Blasters 3/8), but the scoreline remained 2-2.

Blasters' head coach, Mikael Stahre, wasn't too disappointed. "If it was a boxing game, we were closer to winning it," Stahre said in his post-match press conference.

In the pitchside interview shortly after the referee blew his whistle, Stahre managed to keep his emotions in check when asked about a late appeal for a penalty from Noah Sadaoui that was turned down.
"If I was wearing purple and not yellow, I would have given that penalty," Stahre said, referring to the colour of referee's uniform.

He was even more composed later when he said that it was painful not to win a game from 2-0 up but there were positives. "... so many times we see (teams) losing momentum, lose the spirit and lose everything. But we kept going, and we showed the Kerala Blasters attitude," Stahre said after the second-half performance. "I'm really proud of the boys," he added.

After starting the season with a 2-1 defeat at home to Punjab FC, the Blasters bounced back with a win over East Bengal, again in Kochi. Since then, the Manjappada has had consecutive draws in away fixtures and will head to Kolkata after the international break to play Mohammedan Sporting (Oct 20).