It will be a fantastic final with 60000 away fans, says Mumbai City FC coach Petr Kratky

Petr Kratky also mentioned the importance of Chhangte as a regular goal scorer.

Mumbai City FC completely devoured FC Goa in the second leg of the second semi-final in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Mumbai Football Arena, and have now booked a place in the finals of the competition. The Islanders were in and out the better team than the Gaurs, as Petr Kratky’s men thoroughly choked Manolo Marquez’s players throughout the game. Jorge Pereyra Diaz and Lallianzuala Chhangte were on the score sheet for the Islanders in an almost full crowded stadium.

Petr Kratky shared a plethora of things in the post-match conference. Let’s take a look at the same.

Reaching the finals

Petr Krakty has reached the finals of the ISL in his first season in India. He expressed, “It feels good. I am happy for the team and happy for the club. It’s all positive thoughts and all positive spirits. I am very happy for everyone.”

Thoughts on Chhangte

Chhangte was once again on the scoresheet against FC Goa. Petr Krakty highlighted his importance by saying, “He is very important. As I said in the last game. He is a very good player. He is bouncing back. He gave a good performance, so we have to keep him in that. He deserves everything of what he has done and is rewarded with the goal and the team. So I am very very happy for him. So we just need him to keep going and keep working hard as he does and he is very important for us.”

Not High Quality

The tactician also shared that the game was not as high quality as expected. “The first 20-30 minutes Goa come very strong. You can see that they wanna. And when they get a little bit tired we get a little bit on track. I saw better games of football. But not everything is pretty, everything is at stake. You play to keep going in the tournament.

“Tactically both teams are very strong. They know what they are trying to do. It depends on what angle you look at. We won 2-0, was it wanted exactly, not really, but in terms of we absorbed the pressure, tactically very well organized, depends on which angle you look it for, but as I said I have seen more high-quality games before.”

Always the plan?

When asked whether he planned to play on counterattacks or did FC Goa forced him to, Petr Krakty replied, “We don’t play for counterattacks. It comes with the context of the game. In the first 30 minutes, we lost a lot of balls, but we wanted to keep the ball and control the game. Credit to Goa they didn’t let us. They were on top of us and that’s why we got a little bit deeper.

“But the boys pushed and put pressure again and slowly we got back in the game, trying to little bit more control it in the second half. It’s a credit to Goa how they come to here and fought for the score and won the game, but also credit to us we absorbed it, we are strong, the defense was very good, it was very very good.”

Not a Happy memory last time

Though Mumbai City FC lost the shield against Mohun Bagan on the last matchday, the coach was pretty much optimistic about the finals. “It will be a fantastic game. 60000 people away. We know the quality of Mohun Bagan, but we also know what we did wrong over there. We will try to improve it and be a little bit different team than we were in the first game. We can be better and we have to just recover, regroup, and move on and focus on the last game of the season.”

He also expressed about the fans in Kolkata for the finals and his main goal. “Kolkata is a great place. We are very happy to have fans in the stadium. Credit to fans and India it’s (football) growing. We play away we have to deal with that. It’s normal. It’s happening everywhere in the world. It’s up to us how we approach the game. We want to go there and win the game. This will be our goal. We have to be mentally strong and get ready physically.”

Rahul Bheke’s Performance

Rahul Bheke, the Islanders’ skipper completely shut Noah Sadaoui in this leg. The coach mentioned that it was one of the keys to success against the Gaurs. “Yeah, Rahul is a fantastic player. He can play centre-back, and he can play right-back. Everyone knows about Noah, how good he is, and how dangerous he can be. Tried to eliminate it and he(Rahul) did a fantastic job.

“Credit to him and the team, we did work. And it was one of the keys to success today. He deserves very big credit and that is why he is in the national team because he is a good player. He is a good leader in the changing room. Very happy to have him in the team and today he was instrumental for the win.”

For the Fans

Petr Krakty was delighted by how the fans turned up for this game and was grateful for the same. “Thank you to everyone who makes the time and effort to come. I am very happy with what we delivered today. Win, clean sheet, last game of the season.

“Thank you, everyone, thankyou Mumbai, we have to just keep going. When we come back to next season we will try to deliver again. They(fans) are important to us and we will work for them and for the whole of Mumbai to come more in the games. We will bring them more trophies at home. So thank you, everyone. We appreciate it.”

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