FC Goa head coach Derrick Pereira was happy with the performance of his team after they played a 4-4 draw against Kerala Blasters at the Athletic Stadium, Bambolim in the 109th match of the ongoing Hero Indian Super League on Sunday. Kerala Blasters took a 2-0 lead in the first half after Pereyra Diaz scored in the 10th and 25th minute.
However, FC Goa was able to get back into the contest as Airam Cabera scored a hat-trick whereas Aiban Dohling scored in the 79th minute to give a 4-2 lead to their side. But Kerala Blasters also bounced back in the game as Vincy Barretto and Alvaro Vasquez scored for the Southerners in the last few minutes of the game.
In fact, FC Goa dominated the possession with 59% and they also took seven shots on target against the Southerners.
When asked whether he expected eight goals in the match, Derrick Pereira said in the post-match press conference, “No, not at all. I wanted to end on a good note. I think in the first half we started well but we gave away soft goals as usual. I felt this being the last match of the season some of the players were not ready for this match. In the second half, they went in and put in good efforts, dominated the match, created some very good chances, and scored some very good goals. I’m happy with the performance.”
FC Goa was trailing by 0-2 at the halftime break and they scored four goals in 35 minutes in the second half.
Speaking on his team’s performance in the second half, Pereira said, “We have performed well in a lot of matches except for a couple of games where we didn’t do well. Otherwise, we were consistent performers just that we didn’t get good results. If we had got the three points, I would have said that the second half was the best.”
Speaking on the positives of the season, he concluded, “The team spirit. I think we built a good team unit because there were issues because we didn’t have a good start. There were issues related to Covid-19. I think we were strong to get to the end and perform. But somehow results didn’t come. I think the youngsters did well whoever got the opportunity to play. They knew their roles and they took their responsibility.”
FC Goa could only manage four wins in 20 matches of the league stage and it was a disappointing season for them. Thus, the Gaurs will look to bounce back stronger in the next season.
