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Mumbai: Having made a statement of class in their opening home game last weekend, Mumbai City FC would be looking for another three points when they take on NorthEast United FC in their third game of the Hero Indian Super League at the D.Y. Patil Stadium on Friday evening.
The team co-owned by Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor and Chartered Accountant Bimal Parekh, would be on a high after thumping state rivals FC Pune City 5-0 in their last league encounter. And it was not just the margin of victory that would have pleased Coach Peter Reid since the team showed that they have the required resilience to bounce back after a reversal that they suffered in Kolkata in the lung opener.
In both the matches, Mumbai City FC had adopted an attacking approach with the defence maintaining a pretty high line as the team aims to not just win matches but entertain their supporters with quality football.
While they are growing together as a unit as this is just the start of a long tournament, the likes of Andre Moritz and Subhash Singh have already shown what they are capable off.
The Brazilian born Moritz scored the tournament first hat-trick in his maiden start and the seamless blending of the foreign and Indian talent in the team can be gauged from the fact that the midfielder was the last foreign recruit to join the squad.
Among the Indians, goalkeeper Subrata Pal, winger Nadong Bhutia and striker Subhash have been impressive so far with the latter staking his claim as the future star of Indian football.
The 24-year-old Manipuri tormented the FC Pune City defence with his probing runs and also got his name on the scorecard as the first domestic player to score for the city outfit.
Against NorthEast United FC, Reid would be spoilt for choice as the team’s marquee signing Freddie Ljungberg played the last 20 minutes after recovering from his injury and would be available to start on Friday.
The hosts would also look to exploit the difference in weather conditions between Guwahati, Assam, (home venue of Northeast United FC) and Mumbai. The visitors have played all their three previous games at home and have four points to show from their effort so far.
Mumbai City FC had a productive practice session at D.Y. Patil Stadium, Nerul, Navi Mumbai, tonight ahead of their Friday’s Hero Indian Super League match against visiting team North East United FC.
Coach Peter Reid and the young Czech junior international centre-back Pavel Cmovs addressed the Pre-match press conference before the training.
Coach Peter Reid commented “Last game with FC Pune City was terrific and would like the team to carry on that form. I intend to look how my team does and look at the positives of my side than bother much about the opponent. I know it’s going to be hard against them but if we get it right with number of attacking players in our team, we will win any game."
"Freddie Ljungberg is 100% fit and I am looking forward to Anelka playing soon. Syed Nabi is going to train and hoping he plays soon and he is one of the most consistent players. Subhash, when he scored grew visibly on the pitch and I have great confidence in the Indian players like him. Good performance and training sessions provide confidence to the players and the team as a whole”
Mumbai City FC definitely won’t be the accommodating hosts and only three full points would satisfy the team and their manager.
