According to a press release by the Indian Super League, league winners Mumbai City FC are all set to take on FC Goa in the second leg of their semi-finals at the GMC stadium on Monday. The Islanders have never made it to the finals since seven seasons and after clinching the League Winners Shield, they set their eyes on achieving this feat in what has been the most wonderful season for them Mumbai City FC ended the first leg with a 2-2 draw despite FC Goa taking the lead two times. The table-toppers couldn’t deliver their best as the Gaurs fashioned better chances and kept things under their control for the majority of the game. The end result however, could have been different. They registered a total of 12 shots during the first leg but only three on target, exposing their wastefulness in front of goal. Sergio Lobera, the Mumbai City FC coach stated that his team needed to pull up a better show in the return leg. “I am not happy (with the result),” Lobera said. “We had chances to score more goals and we need to be clinical in these situations. The game was very open (but) we didn’t have control of the game during some periods and gave them the opportunity to play between the lines. We need to improve on this.”
After losing a few important players owing to injuries in the first leg, FC Goa will be at a bit disadvantage. The draw in the first leg looked like a missed chance for Juan Ferrando’s team, who took the lead twice in the match but saw their defence shatter under pressure for one more time. FC Goa, who are unbeaten for 14 games will need their backline to rise to the occasion if the two-time finalists want to get past Mumbai City FC. They have kept only three clean sheets and will be clashing with a side who has scored the most number of goals this season. Ferrando admitted he wanted more than just a draw from the first leg. “We are not very happy because we wanted to win,” he said. “The most important (thing) now is the players are 100% ready. It’s a great opportunity for us to continue to improve and continue working. We hope to be in the final.”
The return of Alberto Noguera and Ivan Gonzalez will give a much-needed boost to FC Goa while Princeton Rebello will be out “We have some problems but we’ll see,” Ferrando said.