The head coach of "Epicenter," Sergiy Nahorniak, shared his emotions after his team’s defeat against "Kolos" (0:1) in the fourth round of the Ukrainian championship.
Sergiy Nahorniak. Photo: fcepicentr.com.ua"What moment emotionally affected me? Probably the conceded goal. "Kolos" couldn’t score themselves—we scored on ourselves. Such tragedies happen sometimes. But I am grateful to the boys; they completely executed what we agreed upon, especially in the first half, and completely covered all zones, which is why "Kolos" tried to play—only long shots, and created nothing.
We also had good moments, we rushed 3 on 2, but didn’t score. In my view, it was an even game. The outcome of the match was decided by some spontaneity, a coincidence. Of course, we need to support Bilika. What will happen if we yell at him that he is to blame or that someone else is to blame? No, we supported him. He is doing his job with dignity. We are always just a little short. If the opponent can’t score, we end up scoring on ourselves.
We have played 4 rounds against teams that occupy the top 4 places. We conceded 4 from "Dynamo." We conceded at the end from "Shakhtar" and Kolos. In Kovalivka, we were equal. Yes, "Kolos" had a few moments, and we had a couple of moments. It was an absolutely equal game. I look ahead with optimism. There are moments I didn’t like, but that’s something we can fix.
There is pressure, but I protect them. All the pressure is on me. I always tell the boys: "I alone, the head coach, am responsible for the result." All our defeats are solely my fault. The boys are not to blame.
There is absolute support from the president of the club. He understands everything. You know how he says: we have a First League team that fights against UPL leaders. Nothing terrible. We have new players. I would like them to play better, but they need time to adapt. We completely closed Kolos’ strong sides—that is, the flanks. And as for some shots, sometimes it happens, we didn’t manage in time. I also liked how we broke out on the counter-attack," Nahorniak stated.
