Great minds think alike! And in keeping with the idiom, we saw two great coaches – Manolo Marquez of FC Goa and Sergio Lobera of Odisha FC, set out their teams for a fantastic ‘open’ game in the ISL today where the beautiful game delighted the crowd.
Although the spectators bordered around the 9000-mark well below the average of 15 thousand attendance when Lobera’s brilliance propelled FC Goa to the pinnacle of the ISL due to their captivating tiki-taka football in the pre-Covid era, the display by Manolo’s boys was remarkably improved today as compared to their scratchy win against debutante Punjab FC in the opener on 2nd October.
Both, Manolo and Lobera, have achieved great heights in the Indian Super League. Manolo took Hyderabad FC to glory while Lobera has been the most successful coach in the ISL history with a double at Mumbai City FC after masterminding FC Goa’s ISL Shield success.
Both advocate free-flowing football philosophy and today’s match was full of exhilarating moments as FC Goa and Odisha FC stuck to their style of building the attacks from back.
While, visitors Odisha were the first to stamp their authority on the proceedings, FC Goa fought back exceedingly well and went on to dominate the best part of the 90 minutes.
Noah Sadaoui was the standout player of the day. A classic combination of speed, strength and skills, the Moroccan attacker was confidence personified in front of the goal, whether in open play or from the spot. He will, however, have to work on his crosses as he plays on the wing and need to create opportunities for the Men in Orange in the penalty area, with better crosses.
Another player who has made a mighty impression is left-back Jay Gupta. The sturdily-built 22-year-old is attack-minded and has an eye for the goal as evident from his sweetly-struck curling long-ranger in the stoppage time that sent the Gaurs contingent and the fans into a frenzied celebration of a 3-2 victory after an intese showdown.
For Odisha, the second half proved to be a huge challenge and their pillars of strength and former Gaurs – Mourtada Fall, who was brilliant as always in finishing the setpieces, and Ahmed Jahouh had to work overtime to prevent Noah-inspired Gaurs from inflicting a severe damage.
In the post-match press conference, Lobera admitted that any of the three results were possible as he explained the dynamics of an ‘open’ game. “We are disappointed. We have again lost points in the last few minutes… We started the game well, but then made mistakes, lost the ball easily,” said the Odisha coach.
Manolo was angry with his team after the previous game despite the win over Punjab FC, but today the FC Goa coach was “very happy.”
“..but the first 25 minutes, we played like as if we were scared. I think the position of some players was not correct. In modern football, you have to attack with the backs… we need to combine and need different options. The last part of the first half and whole of second half, we played very good. I think that this is the FC Goa that we want. I am very satisfied with the change. Last week, it was a crazy game and today was satisfactory. We (however) need the correct line at FC Goa!,” explained Manolo.
