Jorge Costa: It is not a result that we wanted against NorthEast United

Amine Chermiti scored a brace for the Islanders.

Following Mumbai City FC's stalemate against NorthEast United, head coach Jorge Costa interacted with the media on Wednesday night.

Mumbai City FC’s subdued run of form continued, as four goals in the first half of their game against NEUFC meant that the match eventually ended in a 2-2 draw. With this result, the Islanders have now won once in their five games so far and are languishing in seventh spot, with five points to their name.

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Jorge Costa was quizzed about whether he felt that playing an all-Indian backline was a disadvantage for the side. The Portuguese tactician brushed aside this question for a bit before saying, “I do not like to speak individually about people; whether the defense, the midfield or the attack. The attacking, honestly, with all the respect, was not enough with everything that we were doing during the game."

"We have one point. I don’t know if we won one point or lost two points at the end of the game. But, exactly what I said, about the players, they are intelligent. With this quality (that we have) we will finish at a better place than we are at now,” he added.

Jorge Costa was later asked about his half-time team-talk, as the team was in the lead with a score of 2-1 until the 42nd minute, when Asamoah Gyan scored the equalizer for NorthEast United.

"I was happy (during half-time). You know, I am never 100% happy. But, I had the confidence that we will give something more in the second half. We made some mistakes, but especially, I asked the players to keep it, to believe, to play with quality, to do something extra if it is possible to win the game,” Jorge Costa remarked.

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The game was an open affair in the first half, as both teams allowed each other to score goals at regular intervals. The Mumbai City FC boss was asked what he felt about the result when he said, “We started well, then we gave a goal and scored again. Then, in the second half…well, it is very difficult to speak after the game.”

“It is not a result that we wanted. We didn’t want to go back home with one point. We wanted the three points,” he concluded.