PANJIM: FC Goa will look to build on the momentum after recording back to back wins which saw them get back on track in their Indian Super League as they take on buyout SC East Bengal at Tilak Maidan, Vasco, on Wednesday.
In the last two games, FC Goa won the game 2-1 after conceding the first goal. Overall, FC Goa have won 8 points after conceding the first goal, most by a team in ISL 7 highlighting their resilience. They also rescued a point against Bengaluru and NorthEast United and won against Jamshedpur and Hyderabad through late goals.
“We won the last two games in the last minutes. Of course, we are happy to get three points but for us, it’s important to get a good score in the 90 minutes not only the last few minutes,” explained FC Goa coach Juan Ferrando.
The Gaurs now fave a new challenge against a side who are coming from a backdrop of their first win.
“There are two points. Firstly, with the new players (Bright Enobakhare, Raju Gaikwad and Ankit Mukherjee) they have more quality and secondly, their confidence – in the last few weeks they were under pressure of being at the last position. Now when you have three points and when you win 3-1, they will play without stress and pressure. So this will be a problem for us,” said Ferrando.
Maghoma and Bright both scored in the last match against Odisha FC.
“It’s necessary to pay attention [to them]. When you watch Maghoma, he’s a quality player in offence. In my opinion, game by game, they are going to be very compact. It’s important to control the spaces, timing and one against one as well because they have good players.” He added.
“We need to [be in] control because East Bengal will be in a different emotion. Two weeks ago, their wing-backs were under a lot of pressure to go in attack because they may lose on the transition. Now they are not afraid or scared about their attack. We will have to control because tomorrow we will face a new team.” He added.
“We want to win games,” said Robbie Fowler, whose side has been unbeaten in the last three games. “The lads are in a better space now than what we were a few weeks ago. But like I said to them, we got to go out and play the way we can. If you can play the way you can, you will win games. We are not a million miles away. We’ve won a game but we won’t get carried away. Likewise, when we lost a game early in the season, we weren’t getting carried away then.”
Fowler expects his team not just to nullify Goa’s threat but also to cause them problems. “Goa will have a little bit of possession but it’s up to our players to work hard. Hopefully, we’ll put the ball in the back of the net and give Goa something to worry about. It’s not all about what we can do to stop Goa but we’ve got a team to play, we’ve got games that we will try to win,” he added.
