Sporting Lagos head coach Jeffrey Buter has expressed his disappointment following his side’s 2-0 loss to Abia Warriors in Sunday’s Nigeria Professional Football League encounter at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena. Reflecting on the home loss, Buter admitted that failing to pick up points in front of their supporters was a tough pill to swallow, though he felt the team controlled large spells of the game.
“It’s always disappointing to lose, especially in front of the home supporters. But I think we had a really good game,” Buter said.
“We were trying to find goals and had to push forward players up the pitch, which led to two mistakes and two goals conceded on the counter.” Detailing the critical moments that cost his side the match, Buter pointed to unforced turnovers and subsequent counterattacks: “I think it went wrong with two actions.
Aliu loses the ball and they hit us on the break, then Stanley loses the ball and they hit us on the break—otherwise, we had control of the game.
We were more threatening and looked like we were going to score.” Addressing his tactical changes, the coach took accountability for the substitutions while explaining the mindset behind them: “In hindsight, maybe you think substitutions could have been different, but with the way the game was going, that was the right thing we felt in that moment. So, it’s football.”