FC Pune City handed FC Goa their first home defeat of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18, as Emiliano Alfaro and Jonatan Lucca’s second-half strikes led to a 2-0 win at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Saturday. Not only did they manage to breach the Gaurs defence twice, but the Stallions also ensured that the hosts finished the match with no goals to their name for the first time this season.

Present for the visitors at the post-match press conference was their delighted head coach Ranko Popovic who started off by underlying how important the win was. “Look, it (the win) is very important because we played against the best team this season,” he began. “We have been playing better and better with each game, and I am happy with how we did today. The game was open and very interesting for both sides. I am happy because the guys did well, and did not lose control. They had some good chances too, after some terrible mistakes from us, but we did not lose control until the end. They are a strong team and are quick to take advantage of any spaces on the pitch. In the end, yes, it was one of our best performances because we played one of the best teams in the league.”

He further added, “It was very difficult (to control the game after going 2-0 up) because they are a good team. They work well and they score many goals. If you don’t have concentration and close off spaces, they can change the game completely. Our concentration level was very high, and that is what was great about this game. We were compact and organised from the start to the end.”

Pune became the first team to stop Goa’s formidable attacking duo of Ferran Corominas and Manuel Lanzarote from scoring, and when asked what exactly was the Serbian’s strategy behind this, he explained, “Maybe, I had this plan (to contain the duo) because we did not have Isaac (Vanmalsawma) on the pitch today, and I tried to do something different. I told the guys that the other team likes to keep the ball, so just keep the ball away from them and they will have problems. This was our plan. We didn’t have plans for any individual players, because if you have eleven 1-vs-1 battles on the pitch, then we aren’t playing as a team. We always try to play as a team, and today our plan was to make them nervous without the ball.”

Before leaving, the 50-year old also shared his views on the impressive Goan fans who thronged the stadium in numbers to support their team. “We are glad to have so many supporters turn out for us today in an away game, and the win was one way we made them happy. The least we could do for them was to satisfy them. We are a little jealous of FC Goa and some other teams because we don’t have so many supporters. We are working hard, but our supporters need to be woken up and need to get them interested in football. I hope that in the future we have a similar situation, and have thousands of people come to the stadium and support us. We are waiting for the Goa supporters to come to our stadium and fill in the stands like today’s beautiful ambience,” he concluded.