Owen Coyle feels both penalties awarded to Mumbai City were soft

Jamshedpur moved to the top three after edging the Islanders.

The game between Jamshedpur FC and Mumbai City FC was expected to be rip-roaring and it turned out to be a treat to watch. Both teams bossed either half in the game and always looked to kill it. But eventually, it was Jamshedpur’s talisman Greg Stewart whose “steel nerves” kept him calm to dispatch an injury-time penalty into the back of the net. Jamshedpur’s boss Owen Coyle talked about the win and the momentum in the post-match press conference.

Here are the excerpts from it.

On the Win

“It’s another massive win as it was against Kerala because we’ve played against direct rivals for the top-four spot. First half we were outstanding, we could’ve scored 3-4. But, we suffered a bit in the second half. My boys did well to pressure them. Because when you don’t pressure the ball, Mumbai will tear you apart.”

When asked about the controversial penalties, the coach exclaimed, “For me, I don’t think any of the two awarded for Mumbai City were penalties. I need to see them again, but those were very soft. We were always dangerous and we backed ourselves to get forward (after the equalizer). Greg (Stewart) dispatches (the penalty), which was a clear handball. We had to work very hard against tough opponents, but again it's a valuable three points.”

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Dominating First Half

Jamshedpur FC outclassed the Islanders in every department in the first half and should’ve killed the game there itself. The coach was asked to comment on the dominance.

“I do believe we had some other great chances in the first half to get that third goal. As Mumbai City were three up in the first 15-20 minutes (in the reverse fixture). But, when you don’t get the goal to provide extra cushion, one goal can change the game. TP made a great save, but they got another award and it was 2-2. Mumbai City would have probably felt it’s only five minutes to go, but my group of players are never ever done for the game. A fantastic win and well deserved because we had the spirit and the desire,” answered Owen Coyle.

On the team

At the start of the season, not many pundits rated Owen Coyle’s side high enough. But, this team turned out to be the most formidable and underrated squad this season. 

On this the coach started, “This is a team where except the four foreigners, the seven boys starting for my team couldn’t get game (time) at other teams. Dinliana (Renthlei) wasn’t playing when I came in there. Ricky (Lallawmawma) had never been in the matchday squad for ATK in a year. Jitendra (Singh), the young kid was on the bench for Jamshedpur. Pronay (Halder) and Boris (Singh) too. Ritwik (Das) and TP (Rehenesh) were released by Kerala.”

“So, what we’ve done is we brought the boys because they are good players. You don’t always need to have the best individual players to be the best team. We are showing them, we are a very good team,” the coach exclaimed proudly.

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Ritwik Das' Performance

“The goal will give him a lot of confidence. We have 12 individual scorers, probably the highest in the league. So, we are in the top two teams which is incredible. Ritwik, young Komal and Boris all add to that. Ritwik is doing great, I am delighted for him.

"He took his opportunity and he keeps going forward. But, Len is bursting in back as well. So, we have new competition in the team,” the tactician stated about the youngster.

Team’s Mood

“We always have a very positive mood anyway. But, of course when you win it enhances that. You never get too high after a win, as we have won five in the last six games. And we don’t get too low when we lose.

"We had a couple of punches in the nose, but we picked ourselves up quickly. So, we always look to balance things,” the manager signed off.

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