Chennai City FC was taught a ‘footballing lesson’ by FC Goa according to coach Akbar Nawas after his side crashed out of the Super Cup here on Tuesday.
The reigning I-League champion handed the initiative to Goa in the semifinals by sitting too deep in the first half and Goa striker Ferran Coromins duly punished them twice. Brandon Fernandes scored in the second period to sink Chennai City 3-0.
“I think the right word is overawed. In the first half, we gave them too much respect. We sat too deep. If that was our tactics I would have not minded. This has a lot to do with maturity and experience. This is a good learning experience for us. FC Goa gave us a good footballing lesson and we should now strive to play like them,” said Nawas.
Chennai City’s inexperienced Indian backline wasn’t able to cope with the skillful Goan attackers. “If we had a more experienced leader then he would have asked the player to come in, to stay or push up. We could have pushed the line higher up the pitch, too. In the I-League with (Roberto) Eslava, the line is always higher near the halfway line,” he said.
Jesus Tato, Goa’s assistant coach, stated that his team outplayed Chennai City with ease. “Before the game, we knew they are a team with a lot of potential. We knew some of the players from Spain. We really worked hard towards this game. We outplayed them easily as the score can tell. In the end, it's the players who did the job,” Tato.
Corominas, who has four goals in three matches in the Super Cup, believes the team is riding a good wave of momentum. “When I take the penalty, I only think about scoring. The team has good momentum at the moment and I think we deserve a title this season,” the Spaniard said.
ISL’s all-time top-scorer stressed the importance of scoring first in matches where the opposition sits deep in defence. “It's always important because then the other team has to go forward. To be fair, the result was a bit sore taking into account the number of chances we missed,” said Corominas.
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