Game against Goa will be special for me, says Mumbai City coach Lobera

Lobera had parted ways with the Goa-based club before the start of the seventh edition of the ISL and joined the Mumbai-based team after spending three years in Goa.

Fatorda: Mumbai City FC coach Sergio Lobera has termed the second match of the season as a ‘special game’ as he gears up to face his former employers in FC Goa on Wednesday.

Lobera had parted ways with the Goa-based club before the start of the seventh edition of the ISL and joined the Mumbai-based team after spending three years in Goa.

“It is a special game for me. The last three seasons I was at FC Goa. I have good memories. We achieved a lot of things. We increased players in the India national team. But tomorrow we need to compete well and win the game,” Goal.com quoted Lobera as saying.

Mumbai had tasted defeat in their first match against NorthEast United but feels that the previous result will have no impact on the game against Goa.

“We have to eliminate our mistakes and play well. It is not possible to compare the two games. FC Goa plays differently than NorthEast. We are going to have more space today,” said the coach.

Lobera has been known for getting his players to spray passes all around the pitch. During his stint as Goa coach, he averaged 535 passes per match.

“We are the team with the most passes till now. You cannot just consider the shots on target stat. The chances of Farukh (Choudhary) and Sarthak (Golui) were close,” said Lobera.

“We did some things very well. We played with 10 players and still dominated the game. But still, we need to improve. Today’s game we have to work hard and win,” he added.