Guimaraes wishes to shake off defeat; Habas says he is happy with the team spirit.
PUNE NEEDED THE THREE POINTS coming their way to keep the hopes of the playoffs alive. Eugenson Lyngdoh made sure they got all three.
The first meeting of two Maharashtrian teams ended in one goal victory to Mumbai at Balewadi. Pune got even with a single goal victory at Mumbai home ground.
Habas told the reporters at the post-match press conference.
“I am happy for my players as they fought and both the (last) matches were very similar. In Pune, Mumbai beat us by a small margin and similar game as we beat Mumbai here and I am very happy with the spirit of the team and how they played today,”
Guimaraes felt his team played well and found no fault in their performance. Speaking to the press about the game he said,
“Well, it is really a shame that we did not get any points as we did everything that we had to do to get the points. We controlled the game and tried to penetrate their goal in different ways and we had our chances but unfortunately today we did not get one in and they played for one goal and got it but this can happen. We are still in a good position but the defeat is a reminder for us that it will not be so easy to get into the semi-finals and that we will have to play well and fight very hard to get the points to get us there and I am pretty sure the players know the situation and try harder in the next game,”
Though Pune got the winning goal of the game, they failed to test the Mumbai keeper on many a occasion. Habas said his team was not as attacking as the Mumbai team but were equally capable. He went on to say,
“My team has a different kind of players, maybe we don’t have the quality of Mumbai’s attacking players but our team is strong and also different. And if we can attack well, we can get by.”
The goal which beat the home team was a result of an error from Albino Gomes. Guimaraes refused to lay blame on his keeper and said,
“He has done very well for us in the other games, which has allowed us to have points and this can happen to any goalkeeper. He knows he has my confidence. Goalkeepers learn from mistakes and now he has to show his character and temperament to get up and continue”
Habas spoke well of the team shape since picking a late replacement for the injured Gudjohnsen. He shared,
“With Gudjohnsen in the pre-season, we had an attacking player and then the injury happened. Then we had to change our marquee player and our style, and we needed to adapt and we needed more time. At the moment my players are working hard, have sacrificed, have discipline and are doing their best"
To a suggestion if Mumbai could have been attacking more aggressively in the game, MCFC head Coach replied,
“I think that if you go by statistics, we had a similar number of chances in both the halves. In the first half we can say we had better combinations and in the second half we tried to play more with long balls at the back of their defence.”
Two of Bengaluru players joining their respective teams were featured in the game yesterday and one of them scored. The goal scorer was present at the conference with Habas. Sharing his experience about the game Lyngdoh said,
“I would like to thank the coach for giving me the opportunity to play and I am happy to help the team win and it was something sweet.Obviously, the league is getting better with time as more players are coming in. And the league table is also tight which shows how competitive the league is,”
On the other BFC player, Sunil Chhetri's performance of the night, Guimaraes said,
“I think good players will find each other as they play more together and with Sony injured we had to put Sunil a bit on the left side but he did very well,”
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