Vitor Pereira says he was happy with how his side went about their Emirates FA Cup tie at Bournemouth on Saturday, despite the problems which occurred during the 120 minutes.
The Portuguese saw Matheus Cunha’s stunning strike take to the tie to extra time, before he lost his top scorer through a late red card and a number of his players picked up injuries during the battle to penalties.
After a poor first half, Pereira was pleased with what he saw from his team after that and dissected an eventful cup tie in his post-match press conference at the Vitality Stadium.
On a tough battle in Dorset
“It was a very tough game with a lot of limitations, injury limitations, yellow cards, and facing a team that was physically strong, playing football physically with long balls. With balls in the space, second balls and they are they are they are good in this in this in this way of play.
“We competed until the last minute, until the last penalty. It means that, in the end of the day, I'm proud of my team. With the injury of Bellegarde, injury of Doherty, injury of Munetsi, injury of Cunha, the Joao yellow card and the Nelson yellow card. It's too many things. In the end, we missed the penalty, but we competed and I'm proud of my players.”
On Cunha’s sending off
“Matheus is a special player, and today he played the extra time without conditions to play, the last three weeks, he has had a problem in the in the hamstring, and he tried, of course. The emotional side was very high, not only inside the pitch, but on the bench, in the stands, everywhere there was a lot of pressure.
“In the end, what happens is not what should happen, but this is something that happens in football and we must deal with the situation. I didn't see the situation, I was looking at the ball on the other side and, in the end, the referee decides for a red card.
“Having one less player, a specialist in penalties, was important for us. In the next games we’ll be without a player that is important for us. But, in the end, we’ll start the next game against Everton with 11.”
On defying injuries to battle on
“The plan was to play with Larsen for 70 minutes and in the end he played extra time. Bellegarde got an injury at the end of the 90 minutes. Doc got an injury in the hamstring. It’s difficult to react.
“We had the capacity to react in the second half, not playing football because it’s impossible. In the second half we tried to play a little bit like them, long balls to Cunha and Larsen, trying to win second balls.
“In the first half we tried short in our way, but they came very aggressive and physically strong. We faced problems and it was a very difficult first half. In the end I must be happy with what the team tried to do to move forward in this cup.”
On Doherty stepping up
“He [Doherty] has the spirit that I like in a player, he’s a fighter. He was injured and he asked me to take a penalty. I know a lot of players and I’ve been in finals on penalties, and I experienced a lot of players with big careers, and in that moment they asked not to take penalties. It’s personality and I like his personality.”
