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"Still alive," Alexandre Guimaraes was a relieved man. He may have been fuming and shouting his lungs out for more than 90 minutes but at the post-match press conference, he was a relieved man.
On Thursday, his side secured a crucial 3-2 victory over NorthEast United and kept alive their slim hopes of qualifying for the playoffs. Failure to do so would have ended their season on home soil but Mumbai's captain, Lucian Goian saved the day scoring a superb winner in the dying minutes of the match.
The goal was scored despite NEUFC's, John Mosquera down in the opposition box for a good 60 seconds. Despite which, the home side continued to play on, desperate for the third goal which ultimately came while Mosquera was still down.
Guimaraes suggested that the reason the referee did not stop play was maybe because the players are notorious for feigning injuries in the final minutes of the match. He reckons it's high time players realise that feigning injuries will come to bite them back.
"I didn't see the situation before the third goal; I realised only when Eelco came close to me. I was so focused on our own half. When you start to fall down, then everybody loses credibility just to waste time. I didn't notice the thing but if players from both sides start to understand that then these situations could've changed. I don't know."
The Costa Rican though was extremely happy irrespective of the manner in which they won. He credited his boys for refusing to throw in the towel when the going got tough but warned that tonight was just the beginning of two more finals, the first of which will be against Delhi, another must-win situation for Mumbai.
"I have to say I'm very very proud of my players especially because it wasn't easy to get over the situation we had. Then winning tonight, the players have more faith now. They know now that they have to think about Delhi; it won't be an easy one because they showed to Goa what they're capable of. We need to recover well and check the fitness of players." he said.
