Poor goal at any level – Killie boss Derek McInnes bemoans Cercle Brugge winner

Posted Friday, August 02, 2024 by PA

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes bemoaned the soft goal that led to their Europa League exit in Belgium.

Lewis Mayo and Liam Donnelly both went for the same cross before the ball broke for Thibo Somers to hit the only goal for Cercle Brugge and consign Killie to a 2-1 aggregate defeat.

Killie sparked into life after Robby McCrorie saved a 52nd-minute penalty but could not turn some pressure into a testing effort for the home goalkeeper.

McInnes said in a club video: “Listen, we’re mixing with good teams here, Cercle Brugge have got obvious advantages over ourselves, they trade at a level and pay a certain level of wages and they’re a seed for a reason.

“But having watched them we thought we had a chance of beating this team and I still believe that.”

McInnes, whose side drop into the Conference League third qualifying round against Tromso, added: “At any level, it’s such a poor goal to lose. The one thing you guarantee when you play Brugge, they put the ball into the box. They are not unlike us with the intensity they play at, they get the ball in the box, make you defend and test your concentration.

“We are guilty of losing such a poor goal when all it needs is a wee bit of calmness, a big voice, see it off. We are in a decent position when the cross comes in, we just didn’t show enough calmness to deal with it and it falls to their captain who sticks it away.

“The response was good second half, a gutsy performance full of effort, we tried a few different things, had a few things bobbling about the box and a bit of pressure. But they saw it off a bit better and defended well.

“Normally our wide players and front players come up with something and it just wasn’t to be. I’m just gutted we never got a goal for the fans to give us a real charge to win the game.”