"We will come back": Mohammedan SC coach after loss to Mumbai City

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 27 (ANI): Mohammedan SC head coach Andrey Chernyshov commended Mumbai City FC's quality in possession and stressed the importance of his team learning from the experience as they suffered a 3-0 defeat to the Islanders at the Mumbai Football Arena in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 on Sunday.
The Islanders found their breakthrough in the second half when Gaurav Bora's own goal in the 72nd minute broke the deadlock. Six minutes later, Lallianzuala Chhangte's deflected shot doubled the lead. Thaer Krouma wrapped things up in the 82nd minute with a well-placed finish following another defensive lapse.
"Look, we understand that before the match we will play against one of the best teams in ISL. It doesn't matter what happened with them before our match. They played not so well in some matches. They are in that position they expected before the league started...they are good. How they play with the ball...such good quality," Chernyshov said at the post-match press conference.
Reflecting on his team's approach, Chernyshov explained the initial strategy and how they tried to counter Mumbai City FC's dominance, also mentioning the own goal that gave Mumbai City FC their first goal of the match.
He said, "Before the match, we also wanted to play football, we wanted to pressure them. It was a difficult first half because they are very good with the ball... One mistake... This mistake was from kindergarten, miscommunication between the goalkeeper and our central defender, and then we should have dropped a little bit more. We tried to change the match, we brought some new players into the game, but nothing happened."
Addressing the team's performance in key phases of the game, Chernyshov shared his thoughts on what went wrong. When asked about the game plan, especially in the second half, Chernyshov elaborated, "In the last 20 minutes, we got back into the game. We wanted to play our football, but the other team was a little bit better. They controlled the ball so well... We also created some chances, but we did not score, though we had good chances."
With Mohammedan SC set to gear up for a tough encounter against Mohun Bagan Super Giant on February 1, Chernyshov emphasized the importance of recovery and analysis ahead of the match.
"Now we need to take a good rest, we need to analyse this match. And after two days we start preparation for the next match. We need to make a good analysis (before the next game)," he explained.
Chernyshov concluded by expressing his gratitude and offering encouragement to his players for their efforts.
"For my team, again I will tell them thank you very much for your work. For 70 minutes, we were good. But we played against one of the best teams who are in better physical condition, who played very good football, and who are strong... You need to think today, maybe tomorrow, and after that, you start preparing for the next match. But for the players, every time I say thank you very much because they are really strong players. They had so many bad days, they lost many matches, but again they came back, and I hope after this match, again we will come back," he concluded. (ANI)