FC Goa head coach Carlos Pena expressed that his team fell prey to their own problems in their 0-2 defeat against Bengaluru FC in matchweek 8 of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Goa, on Saturday.

Javi Hernandez struck twice for the Blues - one in each half - as they ended their four-match losing streak, inflicting a first home defeat for FC Goa in this season. 

Carlos Pena stated that his side struggled and fell short of turning the game in their favour. The Spaniard also called for consistency so as to be a big team in the league, and wants his players to move on from this game and win new challenges. The Gaurs' head coach addressed the media as he attended the official post-match press conference. 

Here are the excerpts from Pena’s press conference:

What do you think went wrong in today’s game?

I think they (Bengaluru FC) came to wait for the chances, to defend properly, to be compact and together, and to try to get the chances on the counter-attack. Their plan worked really well, they had two chances, they took them and we lost but I think we were too low in the first half, too low to win the balls. We didn’t understand how to move them and we created our own problems as both goals came from us losing the possession and yeah, a bad day. We have to bounce back, think soon about Thursday because we have a new game.

In terms of numbers, and passes, your team was much ahead of the opponents. Where do you think the team lacked?

We tried to attack from inside in the first half and the spaces were outside. We tried to move the ball fast, we tried to find our wingers, and then from that, we tried to make it one-one, two-one and we couldn’t do that. The pace on the ball was not great, we struggled to find spaces and after the first goal, we wanted to win too early, we wanted to draw too early and we tried till the end. We put players in attack, and we tried to put more players in the box, wingers, and forwards and get our chances but it was not enough.

You have four wins combined with three losses. Where do you think this team needs to take the next step to bring in consistency?

Well, the next step, I told you before the game as well. We had a great challenge today because we thought this game was going to be easy and it wasn’t. We came from a big game against ATK Mohun Bagan, and to be a big team you need to be consistent. Go through these days and win the games like today but it can happen. We knew that we are facing a very good opponent and now, the first thing is that we have to move on and win new challenges.

What was thought behind resting Edu Bedia and starting him in the second half?

When we finished the last game, he (Edu Bedia) had some pain in the abductor (muscle). I was thinking about the next game on Thursday, we have two games soon. I trusted in my squad and I started the playing eleven that I wanted to play.

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2022-2023FC Goa Match 38,FC Goa vs Bengaluru FCCarlos Pena