Nagoya head coach Dragan Stojokovichas indicated his side’s attacking shape was the key for its well-earned 1-0 win over the Newcastle Jets in their Asian Champions League clash at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Wednesday night.
Nagoya controlled the majority of play in the encounter and took advantage of some confusion at the back of the Jets defence to score the match winner in the 57th minute.
Newcastle looked like it may grab an equaliser when Sasho Petrovski earned a penalty in the 77th minute, but the striker’s spot kick was well saved by Nagoya skipper Narazaki Seigo in the goals.
“First of all I thought the game was very tough, from the beginning until the end,” Stojokovic said.
“But the most important thing I think is that we achieved our goal of playing good football.”
“It was a very competitive match and of course we very satisfied that we won and we go forward.”
“But I what I think is important is that we surprised the Newcastle Jets with our tactic – I prepare my theme with the three across the back, with the two players on the side in a wide position and it created a big problem for them.”
“We controlled the game technically and we held enough possession and I think that is the key why we won the game.”
The Nagoya boss admitted the Jets troubled his side a couple of times from the set piece but for the most part Grampus played the ‘perfect’ defensive game.
“I knew that the Newcastle Jets would play with a lot of physicality engagement but I think we prepared our team well for this and defensively we played the perfect game,” he said.
“It was not easy but with our three back and a lot of support from the midfield I thought that we controlled the game – this is the key.”
“We had a few problems on our set play but this is normal because they are really good in he air, but watching 90 minutes we stopped them very well.”
Stojokovic also heaped praise of his Narazaki for his penalty save late in the match, which denied Newcastle a share of the points.
“The goalkeeper is there to save, but Narazaki showed again that he is the No.1 goalkeeper in Japan,” he said.
“Thanks to his wonderful save we won the game.”
