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A night full of goals and fast flowing football at the Fatorda saw FC Goa take an important 3 points yesterday night. Up until last night, FC Goa had not defeated their opponents ATK since the ISL began in 2014.
But last night was a night full of records, as FC Goa beat ATK for the first time - it was their third 5 goal win of the season and FC Goa's Ferran Corominas continued his marvelous scoring run with his record 16th goal of the season.
FC Goa struck as early as the 10th minute after an accurately taken corner from the in-form Hugo Boumous landed straight at Sergio Juste who headed home to put Goa in the lead. Goa then doubled their lead within 5 minutes, after a low driven shot by Mandar was parried by the ATK keeper. The ball fell into the path of Manuel Lanzarote who calmly switched the ball onto his left foot and slotted home to give Goa a 2-0 lead.
A beautiful diagonal long ball from Pranoy Halder then found its way to Goa's fiery Spaniard, who once again dribbled towards the box and thundered a curling shot into the back of the net to give Goa a 3-0 lead within less than quarter of the match.
A brilliant freekick from the League's top scorer Coro gave FC Goa their 4th goal of the game by the 64th minute while ATK's Marquee striker Robbie Keane earned a goal for ATK in the 87th minute. However, their joy was cut short as Goa's super sub Mark Sifneos took advantage of a defensive mistake to run into the box and slot one home to finish the game for FC Goa with a 5-1 win.
After a near perfect performance, FC Goa's Head Coach Sergio Lobera continued to stick by his team and stayed humble, as he told the media:
''I don't think perfection exists. There are always aspects we can improve on, but I'm very happy with the performance today, the football we played, the mentality, the way we read the difficult parts of the game and we were taking on a team that was going through a negative phase so it was important that we took control of the game right from the start."
"I'm really happy but the match that is coming up on Sunday is right now the most important objective for us," he added. Coach Lobera's rejuvenated side have now scored 9 goals in their last two games and have conceded only 1 goal in the process.
He was quoted as saying - ''We were effective in front of Goal, just like the last game. At the start (of the game), it was a bit taxing on us, but it is normal because we are playing so many games in such little time. Physical fatigue is normal, but I'm proud of my team for being able to control the game and being clinical in front of the goal which allowed them to have a better grip on the game.''
''I think in the 5 games where we achieved only 2 points, it is true we weren't at our best but we deserved more. We started the league well and in the most important part of the season the team knew how to put themselves out there, that is last week."
"We finally have 27 points and our fate is still in our hands even at this late stage and after everything. We have scored 9 goals in our last 2 games, we are playing attractive football once again and we are sticking to our philosophy and beliefs.''
FC Goa now requires only 1 point to qualify for the final 4 and take the last remaining spot for the semis. A win would see them move to a better position ahead of the semis.
Coach Lobera said, '' Teams that go to draw usually end up losing and Jamshedpur are a very good and very difficult team to play against. We also saw that here at our home (Goa) but once again we will go all out to win the 3 points and win the game.''
The Gaurs missed Ahmed Jahouh, Brandon Fernandes and Mohammed Ali for their game against ATK, who will all return for their next game vs Jamshedpur. With their replacements, Sergio Juste, Hugo Boumous and Pranoy Halder all putting in excellent performances, Coach Sergio Lobera will no doubt have a headache in selecting only 11 players to play the game.
When asked about this, the Coach laughed and remarked - "To be honest these are the only sort of headaches I love. They are good headaches that a coach would love to have. To have players of such good quality and level, having to choose between them is a great privilege. Moreover, it hurts my head more when I don't have my best players available for selection.''
FC Goa will take on Jamshedpur FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Sunday, 4th March at 5:30 pm in a game that will see the winner take the final spot in the semis.
