The team, co-owned by Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor and Chartered Accountant Bimal Parekh, have maintained a clean slate in their last four games though having also failed to score in their last two away encounters.

One of those encounters were against the visitors, where both teams fought for midfield superiority and failed to break the opposition defence.

However, the home support and conditions could play a big factor on Monday as the hosts aim to win all remaining hom points available with an eye on a semi-final berth.

Mumbai City FC have 11 points from eight outings so far and have three more home games, including the one on Monday, to play as the battle for the top four slots hots-up.

As things stand now, all the eight teams have a chance to reach the semi-finals and only two points separate Mumbai City FC from table toppers Atletico de Kolkata. A victory on Monday could see the host take pole position in the overall standings for the first time in the tournament.

But for that to happen, coach Peter Reid knows that the forward line has to fire again and it would be interesting to see if the Englishman makes any changes to his starting XI, after having tweaked his formation only due to injuries in the last few games.

At the Pre- Match press conference Mumbai City FC’s Assistant Coach Steve Darby commented “Players don’t like being beaten and it just doesn’t help morale, so it is important to stop getting beaten. We have done that and we have had four clean sheets in a row. I think there’s been a lot of nil-nil draws going on in the League, so it’s a sign of a mature League”

“I can categorically say that Freddie is not playing. The others are all in contention. Everyone else, 26 players are all fit but Freddie is not ready yet. We go for a win every game, honestly. Our view is we don’t give anything away. We have people like Anelka, possibly Moritz who can score. That’s the realistic… We are told there will be a good crowd, a lot of tickets sold. It does help, the crowd, honestly.

Tiago Ribeiro at the pre-match press conference commented “We have ensured that the gaps we have had earlier in the League, we have closed them. We are communicating better on the field and we started working as a unit. That’s changed over the last few matches”

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Q. Do you think that you have less time to catch up with the top teams?
A. Youness- We have six more games and 18 points to take and we are going to do everything to reach in the top four.

Q. What went right in the last game and what went wrong in the earlier games?
A. Zico- In the last game we were able to finalise better and the earlier games we did create many opportunities to score, but were unable to do so.

Q. How difficult has it been for the players to adapt different playing surfaces?
A. Zico- I have no complaints. All the ground we have played have been good. And this one seems to be the best

Q. From your playing days how much has football changed?
A. Zico- Everything has changed. The only thing that hasn’t changed is playing football

Q. What do you think was the reason for team’s slow start? Is there anything that you have worked upon to try and improve your team’s performance?
A. Zico- Maybe because our players were being reckless and they were trying to do things by themselves and also the pressure to win the game. Every time we go on to the field we go to win. We create opportunities, we play football. So if we were not doing it, I would have been worried and FC Goa has been playing good football. Now in the second phase, it has become little complicated. The teams that are there in the top four are playing defensive game, they are not taking much risks and we have to take risks. But we are not going to change our philosophy. We will continue to play the way we have been playing.

Q. Coach you spoke about the team playing beautiful football. In the second phase, will the emphasis be only on playing beautiful football or winning the game?
A. Zico- No my philosophy has always been to win the game. If I have to change my philosophy, I will stop. I want my players to go victory and don’t play bad football.

Q. How are you approaching tomorrow’s game against Mumbai?
A. Zico- We are looking forward to neutralizing the best players of Mumbai the team and I think it is an equal game. They can be sure that we are playing to win and attack.

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Mumbai City FC

French striker Nicolas Anelka scored the winning goal for the second time in two matches for the hosts who now have nine points from six outings.

The winning goal came a minute before the hour mark when Anelka tapped in a cross from Subhash Singh, who accelerated from the right flank after selling a dummy to one Delhi Dynamos defender and delivering a pin-point cross for the Frenchman.

The lone goal proved enough in the final analysis but the team could have been left ruing their forward lines inability to kill the game despite four or five clear opportunities on the counter with the visitors pressing hard for an equaliser.

Those near misses almost came to haunt them when Delhi Dynamos skipper Alessandro Del Piero’s header missed the goal post by a few centimetres and the Italian hung his head in disbelief in the 90th minute of the match that came alive only in the second half.

In contrast, the first half was a battle between the two midfields with none of the teams willing to commit more men forward and happy to retain possession. The hosts were even more cautious about maintaining their shape and that meant that the only attempts at goal from Delhi Dynamos were long rangers that were either off the mark or easy for custodian Subrata Pal to connect.

Mumbai went into the match with the same starting XI that had grinded out a 1-0 victory over Kerala Blasters but were forced to make a change when skipper Syed Rahim Nabi got injured in the very first minute and had to be subsequently replaced by Peter Costa.

The earlier set back meant that the hosts needed some time to settle into a rhythm and till then the visitors enjoyed a bulk of possession but with nothing much to show for.

Mumbai City FC were happy playing the waiting game and it was only after the half an hour mark that the likes of Andre Moritz and Nicolas Anelka began weaving their magic.

The best chance to score for Mumbai City FC came through one such inter-linking play from the duo when Moritz nutmeg in the middle of the park and then played the ball to Anelka. But the unmarked Subhash Singh could only volley the Frenchman’s pin point cross into the ground and over the crossbar.

But the hosts showed a lot more purpose in the second half and their efforts were rewarded when Anelka found the net to send the DY Patil stadium in raptures.

After the goal, Mumbai City FC were willing to sit back and wait for counter attack opportunities, which came a plenty once Delhi Dynamos began to press higher. But on most occasions the final ball to the striker turned out to be below-par.

This left the hosts facing intense scrutiny in the last 10 minutes but some good fortune and an excellent performance from Pal under the bar, who kept Del Piero and company out with some unbelievable reflexes, saved the day.

Mumbai City FC coach Peter Reid credited the victory to a team effort and said it was important to continue the moment now. “It was a very good win for us and Anelka and Pal were superb today. Pal made a couple of good saves, especially of Del Piero to help us win three points.”

Pal was happy with his performance and said it was the disciplined effort of the defence that made all the difference.

Result

Mumbai City FC 1 (Nicolas Anelka 59) bt Delhi Dynamos FC 0

Hero of the Match: Nicolas Anelka
Emerging Player of the Match: Subrata Pal
Fitness Player of the Match: Jan Stohanzl
Swift Moment of the Match: Subash Singh

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Mumbai City FC

The team, owned by Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor and Chartered Accountant Bimal Parekh, have been playing some attractive football but haven’t been able to convert their supremacy on the ball into victories.

The hosts have six points to show from their five outings so far and the 1-0 victory they managed to grind out against Kerala Blasters on Sunday would have given them confidence that they can combine flair with resilience and still entertain the crowd.

The biggest area of concern for coach Peter Reid was the recovery of the players having played their last match only three days ago and barring any fitness concerns, Reid in all probability would like to field the same starting XI that maintained shape and focus through-out the 90 minutes against Kerala Blasters.

While the defence led by Czech Pavel Cmovs stuck to their guns under pressure, Frenchman Nicolas Anelka showed that he was finding his rhythm in the company of Brazilian born Andre Moritz as the duo created many scoring chances and had the team converted even half the opportunities the score-line could have been hopelessly one-sided for the hosts.

With the legendary Alessandro Del Piero leading the Delhi Dynamos attack, Reid and the team would be well aware that nothing short of a collective display of discipline would be needed to stop the Italian as a top-four spot beckons.
Speaking to reporters on the eve of the match, Mumbai City FC Captain Syed Rahim Nabi said, “We need to be consistent against Delhi Dynamos. We will have to defend as a unit especially since they have a player like (Alessandro) Del Piero in their line up.”

The experienced Deepak Mondal, played right-back said, “The coach made some changes in the last game in defence and they worked wonderfully well. Adapting to changes in such a short time isn’t that easy but we need to follow instructions and do our best to win tomorrow.”
Mumbai City FC, who have six points so far, are currently in the fifth spot in the overall standings and a win over the Dynamos would take them into the top half of the standings for the first time in the tournament.

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French striker Nicolas Anelka converted a free kick in the 44th minute as a well-organised Mumbai City FC shut out their opponents to take their points tally to six and jump to fifth position ahead of their Sunday night opponents.

After the debacle in their last encounter, Mumbai City FC needed to start stronger against Kerala Blasters FC to regain their confidence and the team did just that by keeping possession in the initial stages of the match.

The hosts made two changes to their starting line-up with Pavel Cmovs coming back after suspension for Raju Gaikwad and Peter Costa making way for the experienced Deepak Mondal.

The back four kept things under control as the visitors tried to establish their physical presence on the match. Upfront, Mumbai City FC players concentrated on the small pass routine to hold on to the ball and though they had a few hiccups the ploy worked wonderfully well.

It was through such a passing routine that the hosts got their first attempt at a goal when Andre Moritz release Nicolas Anelka with a through ball and the Frenchman dribbled past a defender but could not find enough strength in his shot to beat goalkeeper Sandip Nandy.

Moritz tested the Kerala Blasters defence immediately after but with no success.

As the teams began to step up and increase the pace of the match, both teams enjoyed passages of supremacy but had nothing more than a couple of corners to show for their efforts.

And just when it looked like the half would end goalless, Anelka showed his magic to put the hosts ahead. Ishfaq Ahmed had conceded a soft free kick after bringing down Czech midfielder Jan Stohanzl just outside their own penalty area and the striker beat Nandy with an exquisite free-kick to send the D.Y. Patil Stadium into jubilation.

The hosts began the second half from where they left off before the break and could have extended their lead in the first five minutes of the restart as Moritz and Stohanzl came close to scoring.

Despite the two near misses, Mumbai City FC continued to dominate the proceedings and Anelka showed his class when he pulled three defenders towards the right flank before releasing the ball for Subhash Singh, who shot over the crossbar with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Moritz and Anelka continued to pressurise the Kerala Blasters’ defence but the team showed enough maturity to slow down the pace in the last quarter of the game to maintain a tight shape and ensure that there were no late comeback opportunities for the visitors.

Coach Peter Reid gave credit to the team for sticking to the plan and said, “It was a tactical performance that I am delighted with. We stuck to our game plan and put together a solid professional performance. We defended as a unit. Although I feel we should have scored a couple of more goals in the game overall, it’s been splendid.

“My priority at the back was to keep it tight, which I think we did pretty well,” he added.

The Englishman, who picked out Anelka for special praise, said his priority after the game to ensure that the team recovered well for the next game. “Going into the next game, my priority for the boys is the recovery. There will be a pool session tomorrow. We need to ensure that they recover well, are re-hydrated, get the right nutrition,” he added.
Result: Mumbai City FC 1 (Nicolas Anelka 44) bt Kerala Blasters 0
Hero of the Match: Nicolas Anelka
Emerging Player of the Match: Sandesh Jhingan
Swift movement of the match: Jan Stohanzl
Fit player of the match: Jan Stohanzl

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