FC Goa came out on top against Mumbai City FC following a tightly-fought contest at the Mumbai Football Arena on Thursday. The match between last season's semi-finalists turned out to be a six-goal thriller, which saw the Gaurs race to a two-goal lead in the first-half before the Islanders pulled themselves level early in the second period. A Hugo Boumous header just before the hour mark put Goa back into the driver’s seat and Carlos Pena sealed the victory late in the match.

At the post-match press conference, FC Goa head coach Sergio Lobera shared his take on the match and stated, “I am not happy. The start of the second-half was not good for us. We need to increase our consistency levels, as it is possible to lose the match in 15 minutes. We need to learn and improve from these situations. We won the match, but we should have played better in the first 15 minutes of the second-half.”

However, the Spaniard went on to add that he was satisfied with how his boys reacted to the Islanders erasing their two-goal advantage. “I am not happy with the start of the second half, but very happy with the reaction of the team. Sometimes when you are 2-0 up and concede two goals in 15 minutes, sometimes the team goes crazy. I think my team, after conceding, continued working in the same way and that is very important for me,” he added.

Three of Goa’s four goals on the night came from set pieces. Attributing the feat to assistant Jesus Tato, Lobera remarked, “I spoke before the match about the importance of set pieces. Tato, our assistant coach, is very good with these situations and helps us during the match. I am very happy that we got the three points, which are very important for us.”

Ahmed Jahouh, once again, put on a terrific performance at the middle of the park. Asked about the importance of the Moroccan ace in his squad, Lobera opined, “For me the most important thing is the team. I am lucky that I have really good individual players, but the most important thing is working well with the team. I think good individual talents shine better in a good team. If the likes of Jahouh and Ferran Corominas are doing well, it is because of the team.”

When quizzed if he had some special plans to deal with Jorge Costa’s Mumbai outfit, Lobera revealed, “No special plans. We play the same way in all matches. We know the opponent team and I spoke before the match with the players. We study the opposition before every match, determine their strong points and I speak to my players. We got to win three points today, that’s the most important thing.”

Read the Match report here.