Carlos Pena: We are going to fight till the last minute

The defeat to the Marina Machans dealt a huge blow to the playoffs qualification hopes for the Gaurs.

Chennaiyin FC handed a 2-1 defeat to FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday. The loss comes as a huge blow to the Gaurs’ Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 playoff hopes. Carlos Pena's men have only one more match remaining in the league stage of the competition and winning it may not be enough to secure a berth.

Only two playoff spots are remaining in the ongoing 2022-23 season of the ISL. FC Goa’s defeat led to the confirmation of Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters FC’s qualification. Carlos Pena was immensely disappointed during the post-match media interaction.

He told the reporters that his team did not finish the chances and their fate is no longer in their hands. Here are the excerpts:

Lack of execution

Carlos Pena was forthcoming in accepting that his team did not convert the chances and lost focus during the game. While analyzing the defeat he said, “I think, after conceding the first goal, we were in a hurry from that moment. We created many chances in the first half but could not convert them. I did some changes in halftime, we scored in a few minutes and after that, we could not deal with the pressure. You cannot be in a hurry. We were not able to carry the ball down the wings to create chances.”

Not in our hands

FC Goa’s hopes for qualifying for the ISL 2022-23 playoffs suffered a huge blow tonight. Their defeat confirmed qualification for Kerala Blasters FC and Bengaluru FC. Now, the club must hope for favourable results elsewhere and also secure three points in their last league game. Carlos Pena said, “It is a difficult moment for us because we cannot depend on ourselves, we need to wait for other results. But, we need to fight in the end. We will try to win against Bengaluru FC and wait for other results,” the tactician added in the context of playoff qualification.

Fight till the last minute

Despite a difficult result against Chennaiyin FC, Pena is not letting the disappointment take over. He will marshall his troops once again for the final fixture of the league stage after a recovery session tomorrow. In this regard, Carlos Pena said, “Today is a sad day for us. It is tough for everyone. It is not the time to say too many words. We will be together again tomorrow and try to recover everyone. It is still possible but we need to wait for other results. We are going to fight till the last minute.”