A seemingly dejected East Bengal head coach Khalid Jamil on Sunday said he is not a "coward" in taking the entire flak for his team's toothless display against arch-rivals Mohun Bagan in an I-League encounter here.
East Bengal lost 0-2 but it could have been much worse had Mohun Bagan not missed a slew of chances especially in the second half.
Dipanda Dicka scored two brilliant first half goals, both volleys, to help the Green and Maroons recover from their string of underwhelming performances lately.
"It is my mistake, I admit. This happens in football and I am not a coward. I accept full blame and we will fight back in the next matches," Jamil told reporters after the game.
Despite reinforcing their attack line with the re-signing of Dudu Omagbemi in the January transfer window, the in-form side who were hot favourites going into the tie on the back of a eight-game unbeaten streak, floundered on all counts.
Asked about the mistakes Jamil said: "Overall we were bad and committed a lot of mistakes. The preparation was not good. We should have been strong defensively.
"I deserve to take pressure from club. East Bengal don't deserve this situation," the I-League winning coach with Aizawl FC added.
Jamil felt the early goal of Dicka in the 1st minute was the turning point despite key Syrian midfielder Mahmoud Al Amna picking up a a thigh injury in only the third minute of the game.
"The early goal was the turning point of the game," Jamil said.
The result saw Mohun Bagan climb two rungs to the fourth position by recording their fourth win in 10 matches.
East Bengal, on the other hand, remained third on the points table with 19 points from 11 outings.
--IANS
dm/sam/bg
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