Defending champions ATK were held to a 1 – 1 draw by FC Goa in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Wednesday. ATK skipper Robbie Keane gave his side an early lead before league’s current top-scorer Ferran Corominas struck to ensure the spoils were shared. The match was delayed by almost three hours, with the travelling team almost rushing to the stadium from the airport to be on time for the match.

Speaking to the media during the post-match press conference was the Gaurs’ head coach Sergio Lobera, who seemed a little unhappy about how the day panned out for his team. “Never in my life have I seen a situation like today in professional football!” he explained. “I think the ISL is a great competition and it doesn’t deserve matches like today. The only thing I can be content today is none of my players was injured because today was an incredible day. Yesterday, we took a flight that had to turn back due to an emergency landing. This morning we tried to do the same thing again, and again we had a technical fault and couldn’t leave. We had to come here running because if we didn’t we would have lost the three points. We had to train in our travel kits, we had to change and get ready in our match kits in five minutes. So it’s obvious that we ended up conceding a goal in the first four minutes.”

The Spaniard was also quick to praise his players for the vigour they showcased against ATK. “I think the players put in a lot of strength – mental strength and physically when they were out there,” he said. “They did everything that they possibly could. When we go out there we play for pride and we represent the people of Goa when we come here.”

Lobera also, seemed satisfied with the result and threw some light on the team’s way forward. “We had a good game,” he opined. “There were a few opportunities towards the end which we should have probably taken, but given the circumstances, ultimately we weren’t able to give our all. Probably in different circumstances, we would be able to do that. We have a game today, we have one on the sixth and we have one following that. It’s just not today that’s going to be affected, even the games that are coming up.”