Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham was disappointed after losing the first leg semifinal against Bengaluru FC at the Mumbai Football Arena on Tuesday. The Blues veteran Sunil Chhetri scored through a header in the second half to give an advantage to his team, which continued their winning impetus.
The home team dominated the show in the first half but they weren’t able to grab their chances in the second half. The Islanders took three shots on target whereas they took a total of 14 shots off target.
“I thought we were very good up until we conceded the set-piece goal, which is disappointing because we never wanted to chase the game. We came out and played well, keeping in mind that we have not played for a fair amount of time—16 days. We created chances but failed to hit the target. We need to do something better and different in the final third, be more solid while defending the set-pieces and corners,” the head coach Buckingham said in the official post-match press conference.
After confirming their place in the playoff, Mumbai City had a long gap of a fortnight. However, the Englishman revealed that they had practiced hard in the training sessions.
“We have worked hard enough for 15 days and have practised games amongst ourselves. We took control of the game in the first half, but we had to convert the control and tempo into goals while creating chances. We tried to keep knocking on their door, but they had one opportunity and they did their job, which affected the result for us,” he stated.
Speaking on the positives despite the loss, Buckingham said they were able to keep their shape in defense.
“The goal changed the game, but it was pleasing to see that defensively we were solid and in shape. That was one of the positive outcomes of the evening, and the other is that we are only halfway through. The team that played against East Bengal FC is very different from what we played tonight, we have scored 54 goals this season, and we know there are goals in us. We only need one chance, and I believe we have another opportunity in the next 90 minutes, and we will try to do our best to plan and prepare to make sure we keep ourselves in top form,” Buckingham said.
Buckingham urged his players to get better in defending on set pieces in the all-important second-leg semifinal on Sunday.
“We do not want to concede goals at all in the second leg. It is disappointing, and we want to work on that factor (set-piece) and we will make sure to do well because it changes the outcome of the game. So, we will try and get better in that area to keep us in a strong position next time,” he concluded.
