ISL 2023-24: I can’t commend the players enough for their work rate, says Mumbai City FC’s Des Buckingham

Mumbai City FC’s head coach Des Buckingham showered praise on his players for their fighting spirit after a 1-1 draw against Hyderabad FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) game at the Mumbai Football Arena on Saturday.

Surprisingly, both teams scored their own goals and shared the spoils. Manoj Mohamed put the ball into the post on the wrong side of the pitch whereas Tiri returned the favor to Hyderabad FC as he scored an own goal as Joe Knowles’ shot deflected of his body into the back of the net in the stoppage time.

The Islanders took two shots on target whereas three of their attempts were off-target. The hosts were pushed on the backfoot after goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa received a red card as early in the seventh minute.

“I can’t commend the players enough for their work rate and the effort they’ve just put in over nearly 100 minutes’ worth of football, with the nine minutes at the end of extra time as well. To go ten men down that early in the game. We can talk about that in a minute, I’m sure. But to go down that early off the back of we’ve come back from Saudi (Arabia) three or four days ago and to work and be as controlled and as organized as they have, and have that desire to work together and work for each other, to make sure we got a result in that game, it’s so important. And if we want to be a team that wins things and challenges this year, that is a minimum we need to have. So to see that was hugely pleasing for the way we want to do things,” Buckingham said in the post-match press conference.

In fact, Mumbai City has conceded goals in all of their first four matches of the season but the Englishman is not scratching his head over the same.

“No, I mean, we conceded in the three games last year; we conceded four goals and scored six. I think before going into tonight, it was the same. I think we may have conceded one more goal than last year. If you’re going to challenge and win, you certainly can’t concede more than one goal per game. Over the last three or four seasons, an average of 20 to 23, 24 goals conceded has been the benchmark. So as long as we don’t stray too far from that, and considering our performance in this game to keep a clean sheet with ten men for that long, I can only commend the players for their remarkable work rate in securing a result in this important game,” stated Buckingham.

The gaffer showered praise on Greg Stewart and said that he leads the team from the front.

“Greg leads by example with us. His work rate, his understanding of the game, and I think we’ve seen over three seasons now, we’ve been lucky to have him in the Indian Super League, we’ve been lucky to have him at Mumbai now for two seasons. And I think when you have a quality of the quality of a player like Greg, when he’s surrounded by so many, he can win your games by himself. But also his experience and leadership in that moment, especially tonight, is very important,“ he concluded.

Mumbai City FC will next take on Punjab FC at the Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai on Thursday.