MARGAO
FC Pune City assistant coach Miguel was a happy man following his team’s 2-1 win over FC Goa in the 2016 Indian Super League at Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Saturday.
The Stallions showed a great improvement from their loss against Mumbai City FC in their season opener earlier this week as Arata Izumi and Momar Ndoye hit the back of the net to help their team register their first win of the season.
Miguel assessed the game for his team in the post-match press conference. “I think after the first goal we were controlling the game. But then we made a mistake in defence against a very good team and conceded a goal. During the break we spoke about scoring a second goal and sorting out a few problems that we were having in the midfield department. We were controlling the game and just waiting for an opportunity to score and when it came we scored. So it was not surprising,” he said.
FC Goa got a quite a few opportunities in the second half but failed to convert them. When asked if the Stallions were a bit lucky on the night, Miguel replied in the negative. “No, we were not lucky. We worked, we controlled the game, we kept the pace and we kept the faith to win. In the first half, we created a lot of chances… it’s not only Goa, we also created chances. No, I think we were not lucky. We deserved to win this game,” he said.
Former Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Sissoko also made his ISL bow on Saturday and Miguel was all praise for the Malian. “It was an excellent performance by him. He is a top player and he gave us exactly what we want.”
The Stallions assistant coach also lauded Jonatan Lucca, who was adjudged Hero of the Match for his brilliant performance in midfield. “He also is an excellent player. It was the first game they played together. They can do better but they performed really well as they understand each other. Obviously when you have players of good quality they understand each other and play well.”
Miguel also shed light on what transpired between head coach Antonio Habas and the team in the lead-up to the game. “After talking to Habas, we decided we cannot just keep building the team, now is the moment to start targeting the points. Today we got the three points. And now we got three games in our home and these games are very crucial for us to get the nine points which will help us to go ahead in the league and qualify for the semis. We start with NorthEast and we know they are in good form but we are playing at home and with this win, it will increase our confidence to play well,” he said.
