ISL Season 8: FC Goa end their season on a relative high as they held Kerala Blasters to a 4-4 draw in the Indian Super League on Sunday night at the GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim. Airam Cabrera scored a brilliant hat-trick against the Blasters whereas Jorge Pereyra Diaz came up with the brace to split points. Follow all the ISL 2021-22 LIVE Updates only on InsideSport.IN
Interim coach Derick Pereira was pretty pleased with his team’s performance on the penultimate day of the season. He felt it was a perfect performance from his men apart from the two late goals conceded.
We fought till the end! Thank You All for your support 🧡👏🏻#ForcaGoa #AmcheGaurs #FCGKBFC #HeroISL pic.twitter.com/jeobyD2ehB
— FC Goa (@FCGoaOfficial) March 6, 2022
Hardly anyone expected an 8 goal thriller among FC Go and Kerala Blasters and Pereira was no different. When asked about the game and whether he expect such a high scoring game or not, he said, “No, not at all. I wanted to end on a good note. I think in the first half we started well but we gave away soft goals as usual. I felt this being the last match of the season some of the players were not ready for this match. In the second half, they went in and put good efforts, dominated the match, created some very good chances and scored some very good goals. I’m happy with the performance.”
The Gaurs made a strong comeback in the second half led by Airam Cabera. When asked whether it was their best second half this season, Pereira shared how they have been pretty good in many games irrespective of the results.
“We have performed well in a lot of matches except for a couple of games where we didn’t do well. Otherwise, we were consistent performers just that we didn’t get good results. If we had got the three points, I would have said that the second half was the best,” Pereira shared.
Pereira feels that team spirit is the biggest positive from this tough season where they have had their ups and downs. He also felt that the youngsters did well in whatever opportunity that they got. He feels that it was a season where the results never went their way.
“I think we built a good team unit because there were issues because we didn’t have a good start. There were issues related to Covid-19. I think we were strong to get to the end and perform. But somehow results didn’t come. I think the youngsters did well whoever got the opportunity to play. They knew their roles and they took their responsibility,” Pereira concluded.
FC Goa finished in the ninth position in the points table raking up 17 points which included seven draws and four wins. It was a lacklustre campaign for the Gaurs and their supporters will hope that things will get better next time around.
Editors pick
