With a matchday squad of 14 players, FC Goa was within inches of a far-fetched win when a Ferran Corominas free-kick thumped against the post with over 15 minutes to go. But, it wasn't to be as East Bengal's Dudu Omagbemi scored the goal which dumped the Gaurs out of the Super Cup.
Speaking after the semifinal loss, stand-in coach Derrick Perreira praised the effort put in by his players.
"In spite of the situation, players like Amey Ranawade, Liston (Fernandes), Pratesh Shirodkar, who played his first full 90 minutes, youngster Manveer; they all combined well. "I was worried about the understanding and combination. I think they played quite well.
Read: Dudu strike seals spot in final
Overall, we contained them well. East Bengal played with five foreigners and some excellent Indian players. We played well for so long. We could have changed the match had we converted the chances," said the former India defender.
The match saw plenty of stoppages in the form of theatricals, brawls and foul plays. Goa's captain on the day, Edu Bedia received his marching orders almost immediately after the goal when he intentionally fouled Dudu's replacement Ansumana Kromah.
Speaking on the nature of the game, Pereira said, "We were not physical (in approach) but our condition made us look like that. In the first yellow to Seriton (Fernandes), there was a clash of legs. It all started from there. There were a lot of fouls off the ball; hitting from behind (our) players. In front of me, there were two cases which were overlooked, which I thought was a foul. But I haven't made any complaints Pereira didn't want to shift blame on the referee for his side's exit from the tournament.
Referee R. Venkatesh apparent reliance on video footage to disallow Brandon Fernandes' goal in Goa's last match stirred controversy.
Despite the correct decision being made on the day, Pereira made it clear that he is not in favour of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system. "Personally, I am not in favour of the VAR. I want football to be played the same way. I want excellent referees rather," he said.
East Bengal coach Khalid Jamil was pleased that his players got the job done, "I don't remember anything from the match. We have won, that's all to it. I knew it will be difficult if we didn't get an early goal and that was exactly what happened. In the end, we got a chance and we won," he said.
Dudu pulled his hamstring in the process of scoring the winner. He was seen walking out of the dressing room with the aid of his teammate. On the Nigerian's injury status, Jamil said, "He should be fine. We have three more days (for final), we will look into it during training," said Jamil.
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