It was a dominant performance from FC Goa as they instantly started at an high tempo which East Bengal could not match and soon they were way ahead of the Kolkata outfit. A quick fire hattrick from Iker Guarrotxena meant that the Red and Golds were trailing 3-0 against the Gaurs in 23 minutes. FC Goa scored again in the second half as they also conceded twice but secured three important points from the win and moved up the Indian Super League ladder.
FC Goa head coach Carlos Pena looked very satisfied with his team’s performance against East Bengal and felt that it was a win that they deserved after the brilliant first half performance. Although they were under a spot of bother when the opposition scored twice in the second half and posed a slight threat of making a strong comeback.
In the second half it was firstly Brandon Fernandes who scored and made it 4-0 before substitutes VP Suhair and Sarthak Golui scored a goal each to pull two goals back. However the Red and Golds could only manage the two goals as they lacked that teeth in attack to go all out to even salvage a point from a lost cause.
“They pushed us a lot in the second half. They created a lot of problems. They played with pride. They crossed a lot and had many set-pieces. They scored two goals but overall, we were better than them and deserved the victory. They came here with few chances remaining to reach the playoffs, but they played a good game,” Pena shared at the post match press conference.
The Spanish tactician highlighted the importance of staying humble and also confident at the same time. He also pointed out the importance of winning games and locking their position in the playoffs.
“We need to be humble. We are happy and confident. We need to think about how in the next game against Odisha FC we can get the three points and try to assure a place in the playoffs as soon as possible,” he added.
Guarrotxena scored a brilliant 12-minute hattrick to start the game with a bang and it shocked East Bengal completely. It is the third fattest hattrick in ISl history now and it made FC Goa’s intentions totally clear that they were only looking at three points and nothing else.
Pena also draws down the important of the striker scoring goals as he shared how the Spaniard was not scoring enough goals early on but was working hard and helping the team in many ways but now he has found his accuracy and the goals are going in more consistently.
“It’s very important for a striker to score goals. Iker has helped the team since the start of the season. At the start, he didn’t score too many goals but he worked a lot for the team. Now, he is having more accuracy. He’s understanding better what we want from him. I’m very happy for him because he is a hard worker and a nice person,”added the FC Goa boss.
With this win FC Goa have moved up to the third position in the ISL points table. While the Gaurs are with 26 points they have also played 16 games, two more than fourth placed Kerala Blasters and fifth placed ATK Mohun Bagan, who are a couple of points off them. So it is a momentary position but the way FC Goa are playing they certainly deserve a position in the playoffs.
