FC Goa head coach Carlos Pena found many positives and felt his team dominated for the larger parts of the game as the Gaurs went down fighting against Hyderabad FC in Matchweek 14 of Indian Super League (ISL), at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Goa, on Thursday.
A hat-trick from Bartholomew Ogbeche helped Hyderabad FC claim the three points but both sides had their chances. It was Ogbeche who scored the opening goal, only for FC Goa to put up an inspired comeback as Redeem Tlang brought the Gaurs back on level terms.
Ogbeche made the difference with two late goals in the 79th and 90th minute respectively to inflict a second home defeat of the season on FC Goa.
With a second consecutive defeat, Carlos Pena's men sit fifth in the ISL points table. The Gaurs are now four points behind fourth-placed ATK Mohun Bagan. On the other hand, Hyderabad FC, with their five-match winning run, hopped Mumbai City FC at the top.
FC Goa head coach Pena was proud of the performance of the team and backed the players to keep the same mentality and perform the way they did.
"I think today football hasn't been fair on us. We tried, we were creating chances, we controlled the game and dominated the game for the large parts. In the last part of the first half and then the last minutes of the game, it was difficult for us to come back with the scoreline being 2-1, the rhythm was broken but we created chances and we couldn't convert them and I think that has been the difference," stated Pena as quoted by the ISL website.
Hyderabad FC continued their fine form as Manolo Marquez's men earned another victory on the road. Pena expressed that Hyderabad FC boasts quality players and a player like Bartholomew Ogbeche always makes a difference. The Spaniard also explained how the team needed to stop crosses coming in the penalty box and backed the team to work on their mistakes.
"We had a talk before the game, that it was important for us to not conceded easy crosses and when you give time to their (Hyderabad FC) wingers to cross, you're not marking properly and a player like (Bartholomew) Ogbeche in the box, they can create problems of course but we will work on that," said Pena.
Pena felt his players created enough chances to win the game and called for the team to learn from their mistakes.
"We will also try to take advantage of the chances we had because we had clear chances. We want to be close to the top teams, you have to be always perfect in attack and defence. The performance of the team has been good. We had chances and we were creating them and we had opportunities to score," mentioned the Goa coach.
"This is not a loss that's been worrying me. You don't have to be worried, of course, we are going to analyse the mistake but playing this way, we are not going to lose many games till the end. (There were) many positives today, I know it's a very tough day because everyone could see that we were very close to getting one point. We need to think about the next game against NorthEast United FC and if we play this way, trust me we are not going to lose many games," concluded Pena.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor