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FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez was pleased with most parts of his team's performance as they edged past Kerala Blaster FC 1-0 in the Indian Super League (ISL) clash in Goa on Sunday to go top of the table, saying that he is happy to have faced and defeated a very good team.
Rowllin Borges' goal was the difference as Marquez's men held on for their sixth win in seven games this season. The Spaniard felt it was good to see his team at the top of the pile but refused to dwell too much on it. "It is nice always to check the table and see that the team is on top," Marquez said in the post-match press conference as quoted by an ISL press release. "The table is not real because there are teams who have played different numbers of games. The only thing that is real is that we have only lost two points in the league and only Mohun Bagan Super Giant can surpass us," he added. The 55-year-old felt his team deserved the three points as they had more possibilities to score and did well to keep an attack-minded side out. "I am happy because we faced a very good team, especially in attack. They have top players like Keprah, Luna and Rahul KP. In set pieces, they are very dangerous. They did not create a lot of chances and we created more chances and deserved to win the game," he said. "We are facing problems in killing the games. We had some clear chances and we did not take the chances. And then they had chances to equalise," he added. "But this is my seventh or eighth match against Kerala Blasters FC and when I have won it is by a one-goal margin. The character of the coach is great for their players. The team fights till the last moment and is a difficult team to beat," he continued. The Spaniard felt there was room for improvement for his side despite having a near-perfect record in the ISL so far. "I feel we can play better with the ball. In some moments we wanted to finish the action very quickly. Physically, the team finished the game very tired and it's something that we need to improve," he said. Borges netted his second goal of the season and the Spaniard felt his ability to pop up in the box can be very handy for his team in the future. "Rowllin is a player with a lot of experience. he scored goals at NorthEast United FC. He won the ISL Cup and Shield with Mumbai City FC. He scored goals in our pre-season in the friendly games and is good at arriving from the midfield to score," the Spaniard said. Marquez also had words of praise for his goalkeeper Arshdeep Singh who was excellent in goal as he kept another clean sheet. "Arshdeep suits our style of play. He is always ready to play outside the box. And when you do not concede goals, you get more confidence," he said. "I am not fair with Dheeraj Singh because he is also a great goalkeeper. We have a great goalkeeper for the future with Hrithik. It won't be fair if I drop Arshdeep as he is playing very well. Overall I'm very satisfied with the goalkeepers that FC Goa have," he said. FC Goa face Mumbai City FC in their next match and Marquez urged to keep the momentum going against a team that will rival them for the top spot come the end of the season. "We need to keep going and next week we have a very difficult game against against Mumbai City FC. This is the life of the team, players and coaches," he concluded. (ANI)
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