FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez was delighted after their 2-1 win against Punjab FC in the Indian Super League at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Goa on Wednesday. Asmir Suljić scored the opening goal for the visitors in the 13th minute to put his team in front.
However, Armando Sadiku equalised for the Gaurs after nine minutes to continue his rich form. This was Albanian’s eighth goal of the season in his seventh match.
After the first half, Iker Guarrotxena scored for the home team to put them in the lead and the home team was able to bag three points.
Manolo Marquez said in the post-match press conference, “The mood changed completely after two wins and (means) more against the (top) two teams. The other day Bengaluru FC and today Punjab FC, showed, especially in the first half, why they are in this position in the table of ISL.”
“To get six points is fantastic. Today’s win is the kind of game that, as a coach, you suffer through, but as a player, it’s great to win a game like this,” he said.
The Spaniard was happy with the level with which his players played throughout the match and showered praise on Guarrotxena, who scored the match-winning goal.
“It’s great to see players like Hrithik (Tiwari) and Brison (Fernandes) finally showing their real level. We’re also very satisfied with Iker (Guarrotxena). He’s come in after a long break, and his performance was fantastic for the team.” he acknowledged.
Marquez reckons Punjab FC is a good team and they were lucky to equalise in the first half. The gaffer reckons they deserved to win after their impressive show in the second half.
“Punjab FC is a very good team. And if we don’t enter the game with a good mentality, a good pace, and I think that the team will seem scary in the first minute. When they combined inside and outside, they were playing very, very well. I think that the good luck is that we equalised maybe when we were not doing too much. And then after this goal, the game was very equal. And in the second half, my feeling is that we deserve to win.”
FC Goa will next take on Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi on 28th November after the International break.
