Mumbai City FC was obliterated against Al-Shabad as they suffered a 6-0 loss at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday. It was one-way traffic after the Islanders conceded the first couple of goals. In fact, the Islanders had suffered a 3-0 loss against the same team early in the month and they couldn’t show the gumption in the second clash.
However, Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham is optimistic that his team will take the learnings from this match and they will bounce back stronger. The Briton admitted that there is a lot of difference in the two team’s quality and it was palpable on the pitch.
Giving credit to the opposition, Des Buckingham said in the press conference, “Well done to Al-Shabab FC, they showed their quality and proved themselves. We said we know it’s going to be a tough game, after the goal went in, it was a tough loss in terms of the scoreline but again they’ve shown their quality, they’ve shown the differences clinically, the chances, and the difference they can make at this level.”
The Mumbai City gaffer was happy with his team’s performance in the first 10-15 minutes but feels the team veered off the track when they conceded the first two goals.
He added, “The first half I was pleased, the first 10-15 minutes, we had the chance, and we should’ve scored. It was some particularly good football. But I think from the moment we conceded the goal, we played out a couple of times but the third time we conceded, we started out as too defensive, we didn’t stick with what we wanted to do. So, it’s a learning for us, we must quickly regroup, and we will, as we are a strong group because we still have an opportunity to finish higher in the group if we win our next game. We got ourselves in a good position, we’ll take away learnings from this match which are especially important, and the experiences of these players playing this game, in this team, at this level, which stands us in a good state, now and in the future.”
Buckingham added he didn’t expect his team to lose by such a big margin but at the same time admitted that there is a day and night difference between the two teams.
He concluded, “No, we know that coming into this level of competition the differences between the teams, and I said before the game about the qualities Al-Shabab possesses, they’re one of the best teams in this competition and have been playing here consistently. When you don’t get things quite right, and then you are facing a team which is known for being ruthless, that can happen at this level. And we’re a team who are very inexperienced when it comes to playing at this level, yes, we conceded six, but we must get on with things and make sure we set ourselves up properly. We will come ready for the final game of this tournament.”
Mumbai City will play their sixth game of the tournament against Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya.
