The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda witnessed one of the liveliest matches of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) today. It was a fitting clash of the titans, positives and negatives being brought out of both the warring sides – FC Goa and Atlético de Kolkata. The final score read 1-1, but the defending champions’ head coach Antonio Lopez Habas had a different take on today’s affairs.“All we can do is play our football. I have to recover my team and look forward,” the coach said at the start of the post-match press conference. He acknowledged the intensity that an FC Goa clash brings about. “Sure, the games are always tense. But the stats are in our favour, so I am happy.”Atlético de Kolkata led the game in the first half, courtesy an Arata Izumi strike, and then saw the hosts level against them with a goal from Keenan Almeida. The visitors also had to make do with a 10-man side after Baljit Sahni was sent off. On being asked about a changed strategy in the latter half, Habas said, “If I could field more defenders, I would. We were one man short and had collected a few yellow cards. When things don't go according to plan, I will always resort to defending our score.”Will we be seeing marquee player Helder Postiga in the next match? “He is an important player, but now looks to be out for a while. [I] can't keep thinking about it. [We] have to move forward,” the coach averred.Habas’ men now travel back home to host Kerala Blasters on October 13th, after being on the road for the first two matches. Commenting on the overall performance, the Spaniard said, “Chennai and Goa were two very tough away fixtures, and we got 4 points. Ideally I'd love to get 6, but 4 is pretty good.”
