ISL 2022-23: The team showed character: FC Goa’s Carlos Pena

FC Goa head coach Carlos Pena believes his team showed character to bounce back into the contest following their 2-2 draw against Jamshedpur FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur on Thursday. The Spaniard reckons the team conceded due to their own mistakes but did well to get back into the contest.

Iker Guarrotxena scored an own goal in the 31st minute to give a 1-0 lead to the home team. However, Guarrotxena made up for his error as he scored on the right side of the goal in the 38th minute.

Ishan Pandita then gave a 2-1 lead to his team in the 50th minute but Guarrotxena completed his brace of the night as he scored in the 90th minute to help the Gaurs share the spoils.

Carlos Pena said in the post-match press conference, “The second half was completely for us, we even conceded the goal because of our mistake and we tried to attack, to create chances, we had the chances and we didn’t give up and scored in the 90th minute and we could’ve another goal in the added time. I’m not happy because we wanted to get the three points here but at least the team showed character, we got one point after making the comeback twice, I think it’s fair on both teams.”

Meanwhile, FC Goa had beaten Jamshedpur FC by 3-0 earlier in the season but Pena feels they were not at their best on Thursday which created problems for them.

Pena added, “Jamshedpur FC were much more aggressive in approaching us in the first half. They created problems with pressure which we were not able to keep the continuity to play in their own half and we conceded too many corners, throw-ins and we left too much space in our own half and we knew if this would happen then it will create problems for us and it happened but in the second half the team started to play in Jamshedpur FC’s half, players started using the wings, taking opponents one-on-one and playing crosses in the box, trying to create chances and the result was fair for both teams.”

Sharing his thoughts on Iker Guarrotxena’s performance, Pena said, “Iker (Guarrotxena) gives a lot of things to the team, not only the goals. Till now he hasn’t been scoring a lot of goals but now he’s finding success in front of the goal. His character, his soul, he has a lot of things that help the team, his defensive work is amazing, also the way he works for the team. So happy for his performance, his two goals and so happy for him that his goals helped the team.”

FC Goa will next take on ATK Mohun Bagan on Wednesday at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata.