Mumbai City FC manager Alexandre Guimaraes said his team deserved their 1-0 win against Chennaiyin FC at the Mumbai Football Arena in Andheri last night and sounded a warning to the other teams saying that it won't be easy to win against MCFC at home
Mumbai City FC manager Alexandre Guimaraes said his team deserved their 1-0 win against Chennaiyin FC at the Mumbai Football Arena in Andheri last night and sounded a warning to the other teams saying that it won't be easy to win against MCFC at home. Mumbai won their second match of the season thanks to Achille Emana's 60th-minute spot-kick. It was also their second consecutive win at home.
MCFC's Alexandre Guimaraes
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Speaking at the post-match press conference, the Costa Rican said: "We are back in the league. There are too many teams very close to each other. So, I am happy that we have shown that it will be tough for other teams to come here and win points."
Mumbai managed to keep a clean sheet, but had only three shots on target and also failed to convert many chances. But the Portuguese dismissed any concern about his team lacking the edge going forward. "Firstly, we need to understand the kind of game the other team is playing. Tonight we understood that very well. We need to be solid defensively and this season we have the players who can make a difference upfront. We played better in the second half and created many chances, so we deserved to win," said the former defender.
When told that boss John Gregory felt Chennai were the better team last night, Guimaraes said, "Everyone has their own assessment of the game. I will only say I am happy that we won. This is what the game is about. This season every game will be like a battle. Tonight we won the battle."
Guimaraes' counterpart Gregory made five changes to the paying XI from the side that beat ATK 3-2 at home, and one felt his rotation policy came back to bite Chennai. But the Englishman defended his decision to make a wholesale change. "Prior to tonight, the likes of Jeje Lalpekhua, Raphael Augusto have been playing with injuries and they looked jaded. They are in a situation where if they had started tonight, they might have been out for a month. Sometimes, you have to rotate the squad. I can't play the same XI every week. Five changes means we have five fresh legs and five players who have the opportunity to stake a claim in the paying XI," Gregory said.
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