Melbourne Victory head coach Kevin Muscat lamented missed chances after a 3-1 AFC Champions League loss to Daegu on Tuesday.
Ola Toivonen’s opener at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium was cancelled out by Cesinha before second-half goals from Hwang Soon-min and Edgar saw Daegu to a win.
Kosta Barbarouses hit the crossbar for Victory, while Keisuke Honda also had a couple of good chances, but it suffered its first home loss in the competition since March 2011.
Speaking at a post-match news conference, Muscat discussed his side’s performance and where it stood in Group F.
on the game…
“I thought in the first half we played some good stuff and found ways and earnt ways to create chances and really had opportunities to extend our lead beyond the one goal so from that perspective, there were some chances. I think the key was we need to be more desperate and clinical in our box when we’re defending. They were clinical in finishing and at the other end, we’ve created a number of chances and the last couple of games we’ve created numerous chances which is very pleasing. We’ve got to start taking more.”
on the difference…
“The goalkeeper made some really good saves as well. At 2-1, Kosta has an opportunity from six or seven yards, keeper picks the ball up, kicks it up the other end, there’s a flick on, cross and goal. That’s the margins we’re talking about. They’re the fine lines and fine margins we’re talking about. We weren’t outplayed. It goes to 3-1, obviously it’s a big mountain to climb but we still had opportunities. Then Kenny (Athiu) comes on, has another couple of opportunities. I suppose it’s an opportunity for us that’s missed.”
on Honda…
“He was instrumental in that first half of our dominance really. We dominated them in the first half for long periods. He was instrumental in that. His run to get on the end of that ball, stretching, it was a really good strike, unfortunately it goes straight at the keeper. On another day that goes in, it’s a different story.”
on the group…
“It’s not uphill, it’s not uphill. There’s a lot of football to be played and when we sit down and assess this game, I don’t like using the word could, but it could have been so different. I’ll analyse the performance and keep persisting because there was some really good stuff and we dominated for long periods and created and earnt some really good openings, it wasn’t to be.”
