NorthEast United FC are the only side to defeat the table-toppers Mumbai City FC in this 7th edition of Indian Super League
Yet another action-packed contest awaits tomorrow, as the league leaders Mumbai City FC are set to lock horns with, currently fifth placed, NorthEast United FC at Bambolim, Margao.
NorthEast United FC’s assistant coach Alison Kharsyntiew and defender Benjamin Lambot addressed the media today ahead of their clash against Mumbai City FC.
The highlanders are now fifth with 18 points from 13 games, have made a strong comeback with back to back wins in the 2020-21 Indian Super League. It will never be a cakewalk to face a resurgent team like Mumbai City FC, but having defeated them in their first encounter should give a ray of hope for the NorthEast United FC when they’re up to confront them on the pitch tomorrow.
Alison Kharsyntiew supposes that they can continue their good form against the Sergio led Mumbai,
“First of all, I would like to give credit to the players for their hard work and good performance in the last two games. Hopefully, we will continue with the same spirit in tomorrow’s match. Mumbai City are a good team being undefeated in their previous 12 games, but we must believe that we can beat them tomorrow. We just have to be disciplined in our attacking and defending principles and be confident in our play.
“We need to dictate the play and control the game. If we don’t have the ball, we need to defend well and in possession of the ball, we need to create chances and then utilize it .We have beaten them once but tomorrow is a new game and a fresh challenge for us. I’m sure that the players will be putting in their best efforts to get three points tomorrow”, opined the assistant coach ahead of their reverse fixture against Mumbai City FC.
Moving to Benjamin Lambot, the defender opined about the coaching staff changes and the areas of concern in NorthEast’s style of play.
He told, “It’s always something special when it happens in a club, but this is not the first time for me. It took one or two days to bring the change in the mood, but after that the coach we knew was Khalid. We have known him from the beginning of the season. So, for us, it was not much of a change.”
The Belgian centre-back has been one of the prolific signings of the NorthEast United FC this season, and has led the highlanders’ defense from the back very confidently. He believes that his side are one of the favorite contenders for top four in this ISL season.
As far as the defensive errors are concerned with the Highlanders, the Belgian Defender told, “The main problem for us was the set pieces but you can see now that we are stronger on this aspect because we have been working on that. All the teams have good offensive lines but if you score more than the opponents it’s the most important thing in football. So we have to push them and defensively we will try to be stronger. Of course, Mumbai City have a strong attacking line but we can take them like any other team in order to go for the win tomorrow.”