ISL 2022-23: Mumbai City FC coach Buckingham reveals pep talk that led to fightback against Chennaiyin FC
It rained goals at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai as Mumbai City FC came from behind to beat Chennaiyin FC 6-2 in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 clash on Saturday.
FollowIt rained goals at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai as Mumbai City FC came from behind to beat Chennaiyin FC 6-2 in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 on Saturday. Mumbai City FC found six different goalscorers, three of them coming off the bench, after falling 2-0 behind just past the half-an-hour mark.
The Marina Arena erupted in the 19th minute when Petar Sliskovic put the hosts in front. Sangwan’s delivery from the corner came off Rahul Bheke before reaching Rahim Ali. The striker lobbed the ball across the face of goal and Sliskovic headed it in from close range as the Islanders conceded the first goal of the match for the first time this season.
In the 32nd minute, the Marina Machans doubled their lead. Sliskovic ran at Mehtab Singh before rolling it towards El Khayati. The Dutchman’s first shot was blocked by Mehtab, but the rebound was slotted in perfectly at the near post.
In the next minute Mumbai’s deficit was down to one. The Islanders swarmed forward as Stewart whipped the ball in from the right flank. Diaz beat his marker and headed the ball past Debjit Majumder to make it 2-1.
In first-half stoppage time, Lalengmawia Ralte beat Debjit to the ball and was taken out in the process. The referee pointed to the spot and booked the keeper. Stewart stepped up to take it and sent Debjit the wrong way to reinstate parity in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
At half-time, Des Buckingham made two changes with Vinit Rai and Vignesh Dakshinamurthy coming on for Ralte and Dessai. The game turned on its head four minutes into the second half. Bipin pulled the ball back towards the edge of the box and Rai smashed it in with his first attempt at goal.
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The visitors struck again at the hour-mark and established a two-goal cushion. Ahmed Jahouh’s corner was cleared only as far as Dakshinamurthy at the edge of the box. The defender put his boot through it and found the back of the net.
The Islanders’ third substitution of the evening, Alberto Noguera, also got on the scoresheet in the 65th minute. The Spaniard received the ball from Bipin and a powerful shot picked up a deflection off Diagne to sneak in at the far post. Bipin was in the action again at the very end, skipping past the defence and tucked the ball into the net to become Mumbai City FC’s leading goalscorer with 16 goals.
Following the 6-2 win against Chennaiyin FC, Mumbai City FC's head coach Des Buckingham said he was pleased with the team's response in the second half.
"I’m actually very happy to come to a tough place here tonight. Another away game to pick up three points is very important for what we have to achieve this season, but I was very frustrated with the first half because I thought Chennaiyin FC started the game better than we did. I don’t think we started very well, they were actually better than us for the first 20 minutes and it took us some time to get going which was very different from the last two games that we played. What was pleasing is we stuck to what we wanted to do, we weathered the rain and got ourselves back in the game, 2-2 at halftime. Then, I’m really happy with the response from the team in the second half and I thought the second half was extremely strong," Buckingham said in a post-match press conference.
When asked what was did he tell the team during the break after the scored were leveled at 2-2, Mumbai City FC head coach said, "It’s two things. I spoke after the ATK Mohun Bagan game around the amount of chances that we created and needed to make sure that we convert a lot more of those chances, and I think we’ve done that tonight. We have created a lot more chances than we have scored but the conversion rate is what we kind of need to make sure we come away from this game in a much more comfortable position."
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"The other point is that we started pretty much the same team for the last three games because the players had performed well and then we’ve got a very good squad of players that haven’t taken to the field or started. They have been very patient, and worked extremely hard in the background. When you talk about the team, those players have certainly come on in the second half, they have waited, been patient, and to have an impact that they did (in the game) shows the quality of them as people. (It) also shows how important they are going to be going forward in the rest of the season," he added.
The win lifts Mumbai City FC up into second place in the league, four points behind leaders Hyderabad FC. The Islanders’ next challenge will be facing Bengaluru FC at home on  November 17, Thursday. Chennaiyin FC stay sixth on the table, just a point ahead of Kerala Blasters. They will stay at the Marina Arena for their next game against Jamshedpur FC on November 19, Saturday.
Key Stats:
- Bipin Singh had 4 shots, created 3 chances, provided 2 assists and scored 1 goal
- Jiteshwor Singh finished with 4/4 successful interceptions and 4/8 successful tackles
- Noguera’s goal was the 2000th goal in ISL history
