Sergio Lobera happy with Goa's performance, Steve Coppell explains Manuel Lanzarote omission

Published at :February 15, 2019 at 12:10 PM

Modified at :February 15, 2019 at 12:10 PM

The hosts are now in second place, while the visitors are sixth.

FC Goa greatly increased their chances of sealing a play-off spot with an impressive 3-0 victory over ATK at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Thursday. After Jackichand Singh’s opening minute strike, Ferran Corominas bagged a brace to hand all three points to Goa. The result also means that ATK are almost out of the reckoning for a spot in the semi-finals.

.@FCGoaOfficial strengthened their place in the top four with a convincing win over @ATKFC.More videos: https://t.co/8jtqJIjojH #HeroISL #ISLRecap #LetsFootball #FanBannaPadega #GOAKOL pic.twitter.com/BfOCx7iNsW
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) February 14, 2019

Watch: Goa 3-0 ATK, Goals and Highlights

At the post-match press conference, head coach of FC Goa, Sergio Lobera shared his thoughts on his team’s performance and said, "I am happy not only because we have won the game but also because the way we won the game. This is a huge step towards qualifying for the play-offs."

When asked about his side’s chances of finishing on top of the table come the end of the league campaign, Lobera replied, "For the three remaining matches, two are at home. So, depending on whether we are able to get the victory, we will see if we have a chance of getting to the top of the table. We have to give some respect to ourselves and we are going to talk about it when we qualify for the play-offs."

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Lobera also stressed on the importance of keeping his players as fit as possible as we reach the most pivotal phase of the season. "We are not yet on the play-offs, so I have to use all the players. What I’m going to do is to try and keep the team as fit as possible because we have to play Kerala Blasters FC and then Bengaluru FC. So, we have to keep them as fit as possible for the upcoming games," he said.

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From ATK’s end, head coach Steve Coppell took questions from the media. The Englishman began by providing the reason for the omission of Manuel Lanzarote and Pronay Halder from the matchday squad. "Pronay and Lanzarote were both injured after our last game against Pune. So they were not fit enough to play. Obviously to lose two key players had affected us. Then to lose a goal in the first minute was a kick in the gut for us. In the first-half we struggled to get a foot in the game," he conceded.

Despite hanging on with an extremely slim chance of qualifying for the play-offs, Coppell remained hopeful. "Mathematically we still have a chance. We play Mumbai at home, and the chance of overhauling them still gives us hope. We will now go home, lick our wounds and then get ourselves ready for the game next game. Unbelievably we still have something of real importance to play for and while that continues, we’ll still keep going," he stated.