Mumbai coach Guimaraes happy with win but stresses on need to improve

MUMBAI CITY FC got important three points in their 'Maharashtra Derby' defeating FC Pune City, thanks to their lone goal scorer Matias Defederico. At the post-match press conference, MCFC coach Alexandre Guimaraes expressed his happiness on his team's performance despite playing without some of the key players.

"The start of the league is always difficult because as you saw we have to manage different situations in our squad, Gaston Sangoy’s injury and then Sony [Norde] had to go to Haiti on national duty. So in just five days we had to think a lot but I think the players showed tremendous credibility in our work. They showed discipline so they understood the way we have to play against a very good team…I think the result is very good for us to start but it is a long league and this is only the start."

But also stressed that there still room for improvement.

"We have to improve on this. Of course sometimes in the first few minutes it’s normal that we didn’t get possession of the ball. As soon as we managed that after 20 minutes, maybe 25, we found our game and the spaces for our players to perform. In defence of course we have to be much more alert, we cannot allow the counter attacks that they did and they did well but our goalkeeper also did a fantastic job. So now what we have to do is recuperate, rest and eat well."

The Costa Rican also expressed satisfaction with the marquee Diego Forlan's performance.

"Well he did what we wanted. He moved the way we wanted him to move. He plays at number 9 but he moves of course. He will get better with more matches."