Late last year, the Kerala Blasters had a taste of how good FC Goa could be. Its striker Ferran Corominas was in hot form and produced a hat-trick in the space of eight second-half minutes.
Goa takes on the Blasters in the Hero Indian Super League at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday and Coro, last season’s top scorer and this year’s leader, is once again leading the charge which has now taken his side to the top of the table.
Against this background, the Blasters will be under heavy pressure to produce its first home win, especially after its first loss this season, against Bengaluru FC recently. But Blasters assistant coach Thangboi Singto hopes to work on the chinks in the rival defence. “We respect Goa and we all know it is an attacking team. But if you see its record, it concedes goals too,” said Singto on Saturday.
“But we are not very concerned about Goa, we are concerned about our team and what we bring to the table tomorrow in terms of performance is important.”
The Kochi side is known for its defence but Singto made it clear that his team would not just focus on Coro. “It’s not just about Coro, they have players like Edu (Bedia) and (Hugo) Boumous who are equally talented. So, I think we need to focus on Goa as a team,” he said.
Incidentally Blasters, who are likely to give Indian defender Anas Edathodika his first start this season, will be a lot fresher — having had a five-day rest — than Goa which played its last game just two days ago.
Meanwhile Goa head coach Sergio Lobera was a picture of confidence, brushing away talk about his team’s defence that offered Blasters hope.