ISL 2017-18: FC Goa return to winning ways after emphatic trumping of FC Pune City
- By Bobby Martins
- February 26, 2018
IF THERE WAS a picture perfect moment which illustrated an instant outpouring of relief, stress, exhilaration and extreme elation then Lobera’s celebration at the 2nd Goal was the epitome of a sponge releasing all the pressure his team have been subjected to through a wretched run of 5 games without a win and a yield of only 2 points.
Sunday’s 4-0 dominating win over Pune City was moral boosting in more ways than one. FC Goa registered its first Clean Sheet which is more commendable that it was achieved away from home against a formidable outfit that were favourites to do the double over Goa.
The stars of the show will no doubt be the sparkling duo of Coro and Boumous. In my earlier pieces, I had already highlighted on how rival defences had devised methods of negating Coro’s impact on games by blocking his runs through the middle and forcing Goa to use the flanks and width of the pitch which they were not able to fully utilize. But the emergence of Boumous has given Lobera an alternate look at his offense. Coro on the fly seems to have remodelled his approach to a Jamie Vardy like prototype role. Instead of looking to break through the middle, he wittingly ran the channels well, getting on to the balls played down the sides by either Lanza or Boumous. What has facilitated this process are the deep runs by Boumous in to the box therefore demanding opposition defenders attention and affording Coro that little extra space to run into.
The quick interlinking play and telepathic understanding between Coro & Boumous resulted in Goa’s successive 3 goals. Coro with the cut back on the Boumous foul followed by another nice lay in for Boumous to smartly let the ball run across his body to score and lastly the delightful back heel to release Coro on a deadly run which for me was the highlight of the game.
Another heartening development from the game was the effectiveness of Pronoy Halder in a role that seems much more suited for him as a stay at home defensive midfielder. Once the first goal went in, the game was set and played to his strengths. He was not required to do something out of his comfort zone by switching/pushing higher up the pitch to create as Boumous was pulling the strings. He is ideal when your team wants to shut shop and protect the back 4, intercepting dangerous plays and counters.
Suffice to say Lobera outthought Popovic on this one. Going in at HT, Popovic would have thought that Goa would sit back and play on the counter but instead Lobera had them out of the gates early as the early goal scored in to the 2nd half saw Pune player’s heads drop.
It will be interesting to see how Goa cope without the services of Jahouh through suspension, how will Halder cope to a high press from ATK but looks like they are on to something with the Coro-Boumous and lateral support of Lanza. The defence stood firm with a special mention for Ali who played well, made smart tackles and read the game well as the more central defender. Seriton continuing his growth as a good wing back by understanding his role much better with every game.
