ISL 2022-23: The team didn’t give up – Carlos Pena after loss against Kerala Blasters FC.

FC Goa head coach Carlos Pena feels the team didn’t give up despite suffering a 3-1 loss against Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi on Sunday. FC Goa dominated the possession with 60% and they took a total of three shots on target.

However, with this win, Kerala Blasters were able to end the 10-match winless streak against FC Goa.

Adrian Luna scored for the home side before Diamantakos scored the second goal just before half-time through a penalty. Ivan Kalyuzhnyi then scored in the second half to give a comprehensive lead of 3-0 to his team. However, Noah Sadaoui scored for the Gaurs in the 67th minute but it was not enough on the night.

Speaking on what went wrong for the team, Carlos Pena said in the post-match press conference, “I think in the first half, we conceded (in) too many transitions and we knew that they were dangerous in that phase. Of course, we had some troubles. We didn’t counter-press them properly. We didn’t press them high, and it caused us some problems.”

While putting light on the key takeaways for the team despite a disappointing loss, the Spaniard reckons that his team didn’t give up throughout the match.

Pena said, “The team didn’t give up. We went into half-time with (a score of) 0-2. We conceded another one at the start of the second half and that was not an easy situation. We got here with some injuries, and the team didn’t give up. We tried to make a comeback till the last minute. It is the time to learn, time to analyze, what happened, and move on to the next game. We are going to learn from this defeat for sure.”

FC Goa’s gaffer believes the team came up with a better performance in the second half as they created more chances.

Pena concluded, “In the second half, we played better. We opened the pitch with two wingers (Redeem Tlang and Noah Sadaoui). With could link better with them and we create some chances. But we couldn’t create much in the first half.”

FC Goa will next take on ATK Mohun Bagan at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Goa on Sunday.