Mumbai City FC boss Des Buckingham lauds SC East Bengal’s recent performances under Mario Rivera

Mumbai City FC edged past SC East Bengal courtesy of a goal from Bipin Singh. The Indian winger scored the solitary goal in the 1-0 win in a close encounter in the Indian Super League on Tuesday night at the PJN Stadium in Fatorda.

The win helped the Islanders get back into top-four contention once again. They are currently in the fourth position and though Kerala Blasters are a point below them they do have a match in hand.

Des Buckingham lavished praise on his players and highlighted how his men were much better in the second half. He also lauded SC East Bengal and their performances in the last three games under Mario Rivera.

Speaking on the win and its importance in the top four context, Buckingham said, “It’s a important one, you know, that puts us now fourth on the table with three games to go. I’m just pleased with the performance as we grew into it in the second half. I thought that SC East Bengal they’ve played some fantastic football special for the last three games under Mario, they were always going to be a tough team to beat. But I’m glad that we stuck through to what we were trying to do, and we grew into the game to get the result.”

He continued praising Mario Rivera and his men and highlighted how the table does not reflect how good they have been at least for the last few matches. He also added how a few more goals would have been great for them to see the game off much earlier but felt that the Red and Golds were exceptional in defence and did not allow them to take control in the game.

“If you can ever get a second goal or a third goal in a game to see it off, anyone would take that from you. But they’re very good side, I don’t think in the league table is they’re not where they should be, especially in the last three games. You look at the 2-2 against Chennaiyin FC or you look at the 2-1 against the Odisha FC they have played some good football. They are a different team under Mario. So, we know it was going to be tough. And I’m glad that again we’ve come away with a good score and another one win,” the English tactician highlighted.

Mumbai City FC are currently in the fourth position in the ISL points table. They have played a match more than the other three top-four aspirants Jamshedpur FC, ATK Mohun Bagan and Kerala Blasters and have only a point more than the Yellow Army. But Buckingham is not paying much heed to the extra game played by the Islanders as he points out how Mumbai City FC will play face off against the Blasters in a probable decider.

“We spoke about building momentum going into the final part of the season. Like I said we’ve won three out of four now. With three to go and with fourth spot on the table, we still play those teams in around us. So it’s down to us now to see where we finish. We’ll be trying to finish as high as we can with as many points as we can,” Buckingham signed off.