Slavisa Jokanovic had no complaints after watching winless Maccabi Tel-Aviv suffer a 3-1 loss at home to Porto.
Maccabi lost their fourth consecutive Champions League Group G fixture as high-flying Porto closed in on a last-16 berth on Wednesday.
Porto, who won the reverse game 2-0 last month, were a class above against the Israeli champions, with Barcelona loanee Cristian Tello, Andre Andre and Miguel Layun setting the Portuguese giants on their way.
Maccabi, though, did have something to cheer about at Sammy Ofer Stadium after Eran Zahavi scored the club's first goal of the competition from the penalty spot in the 75th minute.
Speaking afterwards, Jokanovic said via Maccabi's official website: "Porto showed a difference in our box and sometimes in the midfield and they also won challenges as well.
"We are working hard and the first two chances when they scored were not great and they missed a few opportunities but they showed their qualities.
"The team followed my instructions for the match but it wasn't good enough to take points today."
Maccabi are rooted to the foot of the group, without a win and five points adrift of third-placed Dynamo Kiev heading into the final two matchdays.
Jokanovic added: "When I saw our group I believed we could take 18 points. This is my profession and I try to keep improving both myself and my team. It's a long season ahead of us as we still have two important games in the Champions League that will be a big test for us.
"We will have two matches before the Chelsea game and we will do everything to try and win the game."
