"Nobody was expecting today"
07 May, 2017
Jorge Jesus reflects on the weekend's loss to Belenenses
After watching his side let in three goals against Os Belenenses on Sunday, Jorge Jesus was never going to be happy in his post-match press conference. "We let in a penalty at a time when we were dominating. After that we let in two more from set pieces. Belenenses scored whenever they had the chance", opened the Alvalade coach, continuing: "We were slow, especially in the first-half. We just couldn't find the space to create clear opportunities. We have been playing really good football recently, but it just didn't happen for us today. The substitutions [Castaignos, Francisco Geraldes and Joel Campbell] didn't work and we didn't improve. In fact, I would say the changes damaged us a bit in terms of positioning."
With two matches to go and the battle for 2nd in Liga NOS thrown open by the weekend's previous results, Jesus was understandably surprised by what was only a third home loss of the season: "Belenenses were not better than us, but they were fortunate. We came into this on the back of a good run and nobody was expecting today. This kind of match gives us important experience and if we would have scored another goal it would have been a lot easier. We didn't take advantage of FC Porto's draw, but it wasn't because we didn't press. It was down to a lack of quality."