Mumbai: After a shambling defeat against Bengaluru FC in their opening match of the Indian Super League, Mumbai City will hope home advantage will trigger them to a win, when they take on FC Goa at the Andheri Sports Complex on Saturday.
The Islanders’ defence looked waning as Bengaluru cruised to a 2-0 victory, which could have easily been more had the ISL newbies been more prolific infront of goal. Coach Alexandre Guimarães however refused to dwell on the past and is confident of putting up a better display, this time around.
Citing injuries to key players, as one of the main reason for the loss, the Mumbai gaffer said, “Well, we missed key players up front in the first game. Balwant’s injured and Leo Costa limped off early in the game. Hence, we could not really build in our attacks.”
Nonetheless Balwant, who missed the last match, is available for selection, but Costa has been deemed unfit for the match and will be sidelined. “we’re a better lot than that and are in a better position for tomorrow’s game,” added Guimarães.
On Saturday however, they face an opposition that played their first match away from home but put up a convincing 3-2 win against former champions Chennaiyin FC. Attackingly the ‘Gaurs’ were superb but their defence although strong against a sublime opposition in the first-half, they succumbed under pressure in the second, conceding two goals.
Head coach Sergio Lobera depite his side conceding two goals refused to change the philosophy. “When a team has to perform well, they have to stick to their own idea and methodology. So against Mumbai, we are going to stick to the same idea,” said the Spanish.
Although Goa signed six Spaniards who are used to playing possession based football, counter attacking is what they played against Chennai, with all three goals coming from quick counters and Lobera insisted that attacking will be their main moto this season.
“We are not a team that will sit back after taking a lead and run through the minutes. We keep on attacking and that’s what we did in the last game. We did concede two goals but we did create enough opportunities where we could have extended our lead.”