Mumbai City FC’s Des Buckingham: Should’ve taken something from the match after that second-half show

Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham was disappointed to be on the losing side despite a strong second-half show that saw the team bounce back from a 0-2 deficit only for them to concede a stoppage-time goal to lose 2-3 to Jamshedpur FC in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL).

The Islanders though were poor in the first half and Jamshedpur FC made them pay for it. Buckingham though was happy with his team’s second-half display and felt it could be a blueprint for the team for the rest of the season.

Buckingham addressed the media after the match.

Here are the excerpts from his post-match press conference:

How disheartening is a result like this?

We didn’t start well and then to lose Ahmed Jahouh put us on the back foot a little bit. They went into half-time leading 2-0. We made some changes, got ourselves back into the game. It was 2-1 and then with the penalty, we should have made it 2-2. But then we managed to make it 2-2. Then we conceded a goal from a penalty with a handball in the 94th minute which wasn’t a nice feeling but I am proud of the way we fought back in the second half and we should have taken something from the game.

What was the chat at half-time?

We needed to get more bodies behind Jamshedpur FC. They defend very well and are very aggressive. A lot of the first half we played in front of them which makes it easier for them to defend against us. With the pace of Bipin and Chhangte, we just wanted to get some support around Igor. So we went to two 10s and played one six and in the second half, we managed to do that a lot more.

What are the positives that you can take out from this game?

I think the way we controlled the second half and the chances we created in the second half. I think we should have come away with a result whether that’s a draw or more. But I am proud of how we responded especially in the second half and after losing an influential player for us.

Do you think this result could cost you in the race to finish top of the table?

I think it sets it up nicely. We know what we have to do in the final four games. We must go out and play the way we have in the second half in all four of those games and we come away with those results and we would still put ourselves in the position that we want.