“It was bad. This is not my team. We destroyed everything that we created in the first few matches. You cannot lose the way we lost today.” These were the strong words used by NorthEast United coach Nelo Vingada after the disappointing 1-0 loss against Mumbai City FC.
“The way we played today, I would say I would we do not deserve to qualify for the play-offs,” said a disheartened Vingada.
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The coach was in no mood to defend his players and added that his players are equally depressed in the dressing room. Goalkeeper Wellington De Lima Gomes had tears as he walked into the dressing room.
It is, however, numerically still possible for NorthEast United to qualify with 18 points up for grabs, but the NorthEast United coach stressed that with the kind of play that his team are showing, they do not deserve to be in the semi-finals.
“I don’t give up, we will try in our next game,” the coach added. Vingada has another concern, with top scorer of the league Emiliano Alfaro suspended for the next match. But the coach believes that Nicholas Velez and Seityasen Singh can possibly fill the shoes.
The coach also had a special message for the fans who have been loud and supported the team in every match. “Our fans deserve much better. I, however, would like to thank them for their love and support,” said the coach.
Meanwhile, Mumbai City coach Alexandre Guimarães believed that his team deserved the win. “We deserved to win. The first half was open, we had one or two chances, but we picked up later very well,” he said.
He also stressed upon the fact that most of the 15 points that came in for Mumbai were from away games and “that is a very challenging task”.
On being asked if NorthEast’s aggression on the ground gave Mumbai an advantage, as one could visibly see the home team players fumbling and misplacing passes, the Mumbai coach had this to say, “We were well prepared. We gave time for our players to recover. This is our mentality.”
NorthEast United now have six days to recover after which they travel to Goa, while Mumbai heads back home where they will host Pune for the Maharashtra Derby on the 10th.
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