Sydney FC Head Coach Steve Corica has rued his side’s missed chances in their AFC Champions League clash against Shanghai SIPG on Thursday night.
The Sky Blues’ boss believes the squad could have been up by multiple goals at half time, as he said the side struggled to adjust the play after Shanghai drew level following a fine assist from Socceroo midfielder Aaron Mooy.
MATCH REPORT: Sydney FC Rue Missed Chances In Shanghai Clash
HIGHLIGHTS: Sydney FC v Shanghai SIPG
“We played really well, scored the goal and went one nil up,” Corica said.
“We had two or three chances after that and we didn’t take our chances in the end, that’s what the game came down to. Maybe we take our chances and we go in three nil up at half time.
“You don’t take your chances you can always get in trouble.
“That’s what happened second half, they took their chances, they only had two chances and scored both goals. It was a disappointing end to the game.
“That was part of our plan in the first half, to play down the sides which we got joy from. We could have maybe scored another one or two from those balls in the wide areas into the box,” he continued.
“Second half they had to come out a little bit more to try and stop us. We kept the ball ok but we weren’t going forward enough with it.
“We had the one goal lead, we were quite happy with that but when they scored we had to change a little bit and we probably didn’t adapt to that.”
Corica heaped praise on striker Trent Buhagiar, and said he believes the speedster can assume the vacant spot left by Adam Le Fondre who’s departed for India.
The Sky Blues’ boss also called for his side to start garnering three points from their remaining clashes, with three games remaining in the 2020 group stage.
“I spoke to Trent when Adam Le Fondre left and this was his opportunity and I thought he was excellent,” Corica said.
“He took his goal, it was a fantastic goal and I think he played well for most of the game.
“He’s really standing up, he’s had a good preseason, scored plenty of goals in preseason and he’s continued that.
“It was always a tough group, I thought we needed three points to move forward, but we have three more games and it’s still possible [to qualify],” Corica continued.
“[They’re] difficult games but we’ll hopefully learn our lesson and move forward. Jeonbuk we drew with at home last time we played them so that’s our next opponent.
“We have to start winning games, draws aren’t enough for us at the moment.”
Sydney FC return to AFC Champions League action on Wednesday 25th November against Korean Champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at Al Janoub Stadium (kick off 9pm AEDT). Catch the match LIVE on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.
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