Mumbai City FC went top of the table in the ISL after they defeated Atletico de Kolkata at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium on Tuesday. Mumbai City FC were missing a lot of key players for the clash, especially the likes of Pronay Halder, Boithang Haokip and Matias Defederico who are all key men for the away team.
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Mumbai City FC coach Alexandre Guimarães appeared to be really happy after the game, reiterating how difficult it is to beat the former champions at home. He said, "All I can say is that I would like to see other teams come here and play against a very good team like Atlético de Kolkata with the kind of injury list that we have, knowing that one of the best goalkeepers of the ISL not playing and still play like we did.".
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"In the first-half, we played very well. In the second half, we played well and defended well too. In football, it is about making your chances count. In the first-half, we did have more chances but in the second half we made our chance count" he continued.
“We had to make up for the absence of players like Matias Defederico, Leo Costa, Boithang Haokip, Pronay Halder and Roberto Volpato. We also had Thiago who flew in today. We had to plan our line-up differently and I think we managed well. Everybody understood that with all the circumstances, we don’t have to just play well but play with all our heart on the pitch".
Atletico de Kolkata had earned a draw in the away leg, after Javi Lara scored a late equalizer via a deflected drive, and the Costa Rican was happy that his team learned from the mistakes made in the game, “Everybody realized the situation and performed fantastically. I am satisfied with the whole team. Everyone played well including the players that came off the bench. I think we learnt from our last game against Atletico de Kolkata, even in that game in the first half we had the chance to finish the game but we didn’t.
“So, we learnt from our mistake that we were playing a very good team who will not give up. So, we took precautions and later reduced their game to just crosses and we managed well with the defensive players that we had.” he continued.
Mumbai City FC play their next game away to Chennaiyin on the 2nd of November.
