FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez was extremely happy with his side's performance as they beat Odisha FC in a thrilling five-goal encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Saturday.

In a rollercoaster of a match, Mourtada Fall opened the scoring early in the first half. FC Goa continued to apply pressure, and Noah Sadaoui netted two goals in the second half, giving the home side the lead. Fall later scored again to level the score. However, it was Jay Gupta's spectacular left-footed strike during injury time in the second half that secured a crucial three points for the Gaurs.

Reflecting on the match, Marquez said it was full of ups and downs as both teams aimed to secure all three points. He expressed satisfaction to see how his time reacted after going down early in the game. Speaking in the post-match press conference, the Spaniard praised the effort of his players on the road to secure back-to-back wins in the league.

“I'm very happy. It may be a bit difficult to understand now because, finally, the score today is 3-2, whereas the other day (against Punjab FC) it was 1-0. However, the game the other day was quite crazy. Today, it's true that we conceded two goals, both from set pieces. The first goal came from a very well-executed set piece, while the second was a mistake by our team. Nevertheless, except for the first 20-25 minutes when the team seemed a bit scared, I believe that in the latter part of the first half and especially throughout almost the entire second half, the team played very well. I think that this is the type of performance we want from the team, but it's not always achievable,” Marquez said in the post-match press conference.

Marquez was pleased to see his players making the comeback. When asked about the pep talk during the halftime break, he said: "I told them that we would turn the score around because we were playing well. Despite the challenges, we were quickly recovering the ball. We were up against a very strong team with excellent players and a highly successful coach in the ISL. And obviously, you can say whatever you want. But finally, the players entering the pitch were completely convinced that maybe it was the most important thing today. To be convinced that they have the quality to turn scores even playing against a team, that for me is a very good side.”

FC Goa will face East Bengal FC in an away game at a neutral venue in Bhubaneswar on October 21. Marquez also addressed their unimpressive stats in away matches and expressed his desire to change that.

"This is another aspect I would like to change because it seems that FC Goa is very strong at home but weak away. I believe that we should be the same team whether we play at home or away. It's true that today, with the type of game the players played, I think the spectators' support was crucial. They were fully behind the team, and I consider them key to today's victory," he said.

"However, we have to go to Bhubaneswar for the game against East Bengal, and although it's technically an away game, it's in a neutral location," Marquez concluded.

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Odisha FCFC Goa2023-2024