FC Goa head coach Carlos Pena felt that his team didn't give up till the last minute as the Gaurs went down 1-3 to Kerala Blasters FC in matchweek 6 of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL), at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Kochi, on Sunday.

The opening half was evenly poised till Adrian Luna opened the scoring for the Kerala Blasters FC. Dimitrios Diamantakos added another one in injury time before the break. The game then shifted towards in momentum of the home side after Ivan Kaliuzhnyi's goal, with few bright moments from FC Goa as well. In the end, KBFC proved too strong for the visitors.

Pena said his team's fighting spirit against Kerala Blasters was a huge positive and that the Gaurs needed to regroup and learn from their mistakes going into their next game. 

Here are the excerpts from Pena's post-match press conference:

What do you think went wrong in the match?

I think in the first half, we conceded (in) too many transitions and we knew that they were dangerous in that phase. Of course, we had some troubles. We didn't counter press them properly. We didn't press them high, and it caused us some problems.

In the second half you scored one and created a few chances, do you think that the team should have scored more?

In the second half, we played better. We opened the pitch with two wingers (Redeem Tlang and Noah Sadaoui). With could link better with them and we create some chances. But we couldn't create much in the first half.

Why did you not field any foreign players in defense, and any information about Saviour Gama's injury?

They (Marc Valiente and Fares Arnaout) are recovering. They came from injuries and we decided not to risk them. Regarding Gama, he has to do some tests. We need some days to have a (clear) news.

How was the feeling of playing in front of a huge crowd?

It was an amazing feeling. It was a big. We came and tried and we congrats Kerala Blasters FC for the win. We go on to the next (game).

What is the thought process behind taking an important player like Brandon Fernandez and putting Redeem Tlang?

We thought we needed more players (between) the lines and out wide. We decided to put Redeem and find Iker (Guarrotxena). Iker and Brandon (Fernandes) were not comfortable in the middle, so we prefered to open the pitch and try to attack in another way. I think we did good on some moments, but it was not enough because they had big advantage (with the score line).

What are the key takeaways from this match?

The team didn't give up. We went into half-time with (a score of) 0-2. We conceded another one at the start of the second half and that was not an easy situation. We got here with some injuries, and the team didn't give up. We tried to make a comeback till the last minute. It is the time to learn, time to analyse what happened, and move on to the next game. We are going to learn from this defeat for sure.

Related tags:

FC GoaKerala Blasters FC2022-2023 Match 30,Kerala Blasters FC vs FC Goa