Mumbai City FC ready for in-form NorthEast United FC

Mumbai City FC look to climb up the ladder as they face an in-form NorthEast United FC in their second round clash of the Indian Super League at Mumbai Football Arena on Friday.

Mumbai City FC won their opening round clash against FC Pune City for the first time and tasted a rare away win. The win boosted the confidence of the entire squad and they will now be looking to dethrone NorthEast United FC from the top.

On the other hand, the visitors will be on a high after registering two victories from their first two matches at home. With six points in their kitty and the number one position on the table, they will look to keep up the momentum and strengthen their hold on the top spot.

“We won against a very good team. This is always good because statistically, Mumbai had never won their opening match. Also, we won an away game and against a very tough team. Pune is one of the contenders (for the title) this season. That game is now behind us and from the next day itself, we started to focus on our second game.

It’s always nice to start with a win. The confidence grows,” said Mumbai City coach Alexandre Guimaraes.

Mumbai will be up against a team which has won both their matches and Guimaraes admitted that they have a mountain to climb. 

“They deserved to win the first two games and we will have to play even better and harder to win this game,” said the Costa Rican coach.

Much of the focus of fans during the opening game was on Mumbai City marquee Diego Forlan.

The Uruguayan superstar is the biggest name this season and gave glimpses of what he brings to the team. It was his brilliant flick that created the only goal of the match but for Guimaraes it was clear that the opponents will not give him too much space to operate.

“We are trying to find solutions in offence and for Diego not to have all the responsibility to score. 

Our top scorer (Gaston Sangoy) during pre-season was injured which is bad news for us. 

“Then we are missing Sony (Norde) because of international matches. 

“These are big guys for us but I think we managed well and on Friday, it will be another test for us to improve in that area,” said the Mumbai City coach.

Despite the confidence in the squad from the first two games played, where they emerged winners, NorthEast United coach Nelo Vingada is not taking anything for granted.