FC Goa got their Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 campaign off to a perfect start by beating two-time champions, Chennaiyin FC 3-0 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Wednesday.

Shortly after the final whistle, Gaurs duo Manvir Singh and Brandon Fernandes shared their views on the successful outing in a post-match interview with indiansuperleague.com. Here are the excerpts:

Manvir, a great outing for your team tonight. What are your thoughts on the match?

Manvir: I think we played a very good game, and we got the three points. It’s the first match for us and we got the three points. I’m very happy.

Brandon, a different position for you. How was it tonight?

Brandon: I think the most important thing was to adapt. The coach gave me the confidence. He told me to play the position. I was up for it. He gave me a lot of confidence and told me that I can play in that position. With his confidence, I think I did a good job today. The other players also helped me. Overall, it was a good performance for us as a team. We are very happy with the three points.

What was the half-time talk?

Brandon: This is the first match of the season. No team is fit enough to play 90 minutes. There were big spaces in the middle. That is bound to happen in the first 2-3 games. We will work on that and try to block the passes and give no chances to (opposition) attackers. We will try to adapt.

How are you looking at the second game?

Brandon: In a positive way. We won the first match and now we focus on the second match. We play Bengaluru next. They are a very tough opposition. We have to prepare very well for them. They are a good team. We will try to work on them and try to win the next match as well.

From Chennaiyin’s end, captain Lucian Goian was on the spot to share his opinion on the result. Here are the excerpts:

Thoughts on the match?

It’s a bad start for us, but we have to take it as it is and we need to have a good rest tonight, and then from tomorrow, think about the next game against Mumbai, because we don’t have too much time. I don’t think Goa were the better team in the first half. They were lucky because they scored a lucky goal. We had some good chances to score, but we were not lucky.

How’s the new squad looking for Chennaiyin this season?

It’s looking good. I’ve put all my energy and focus into Chennaiyin FC. I hope together with the team, we will achieve the results expected of us.

How do you go ahead from this game?

In football, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It’s very important to get over this loss. It’s a tough one, but I don’t think we deserved to lose in this manner. But we have to learn from what didn’t go for us tonight and focus on our next game.

Read the Match Report here.