PANAJI
A 10-man Jamshedpur FC managed to secure a point following a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Mumbai City FC on Monday. The Steelmen lost Aitor Monroy after he received a second yellow card in the 28th minute, making their draw against the Islanders very impressive.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Jamshedpur FC head coach Owen Coyle commended his team’s spirit and was confident that his side could have won the match with 11 players on the pitch. “It was outstanding in terms of the spirit. If we had 11 players on the pitch, we could have won the game. That is why we have that game plan,” he said.
The draw was Jamshedpur’s fifth game unbeaten and Coyle feels that his side are heading in the right direction. “Mumbai are a wonderful team; that is why they are on top of the league for a reason. But we have shown that we can go toe-to-toe with the best teams. We are five games unbeaten and moving in the right direction,” the Jamshedpur head coach said.
Jamshedpur’s talisman Valskis was on the scoresheet yet again, scoring his sixth goal of the season and Coyle heaped praise on the Lithuanian striker. “Valskis is a wonderful player and that is why I brought him to the club. Valskis can get a half chance and he can put it in the back of the net. He scored a great goal again and long may that continue.”
Meanwhile, Mumbai City head coach Sergio Lobera shared his disappointment with a draw during his post-match press conference. “I feel we lost two points. When you are playing for a long time against 10 players, one point is usually not enough,” the Spaniard said.
“Jamshedpur played very well defensively. We created a lot of chances, but we could not score. We need to improve, and we need to manage a situation when you are playing against 10 players,” he added.
Mumbai City were missing their main creative spark Hugo Boumous during the side’s 1-1 draw with Jamshedpur and Lobera shared an update on their playmaker. “Hopefully he [Boumous] will play in the next game. I am an optimist. I think he does not have a big injury and it is possible for him to play in the next game. But these are no excuses. We are missing Boumous, Hernan [Santana] and Mandar [Rao Dessai] but this is not a reason to lose the two points today,” he said.
