Mumbai City FC saw their nine-match unbeaten run in the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19 ended by the very team which inflicted their last loss in the league as FC Goa put on a disciplined performance to emerge 2-0 victors at the Mumbai Football Arena on Friday. With the win, the Gaurs consolidated their grip on a playoff spot, while also cutting back the Islanders' six-point lead over them to just three.

Goa goalkeeper Mohammad Nawaz was brilliant in the second-half and kept out a flurry of Mumbai attacks to preserve his team's first-half lead. Goa head coach Sergio Lobera showered praise on the youngster but claimed that the victory was the fruit of excellent teamwork. "It’s true that Nawaz had a great performance, but I don’t think we got the victory only because of him. It was a whole team performance and was a very good job from them. Nawaz has a lot of confidence, which could develop him into a very good player in the future," he said.

The Gaurs have now kept two clean sheets in a row, which is a rarity for an attack-minded team like them. Asked if he has started setting up the team to ensure a greater defensive solidity, Lobera responded, "For me, the main thing and the most important thing is that we are the team in the league with the highest difference of goals scored and goals conceded. I’m not obsessed with clean sheets. I’m not worried about it as we are scoring goals. At the end of the league when two teams have the same number of points, the one with the higher number of clean sheets doesn’t qualify but the one with the highest difference in goals does."

Asked if he would be interested in coaching the Indian national football team, the Spaniard said, "I’m really grateful that people are enjoying our attacking style of football. Right now, I’m very glad to be at FC Goa, and I haven’t heard anything about me being linked to the Indian national team, which is a national squad I respect a lot. I’ve been here already for two years and I hope the national team keeps improving and developing the same way it’s been doing."

Mumbai boss Jorge Costa, on the other hand, felt that his team was far off their usual high standards in the first-half, which eventually cost them the match. "Unfortunately, it was today (that our unbeaten run ended). In the first-half, I don’t know what happened. I have to see the game again and speak with the players. But in the first half, it was not the team that we are used to seeing. And it was not my team,” he argued.

The Portuguese then went on to assess the second 45 minutes, before accepting that over the course of the match, the Gaurs deserved the three points. "We went into half-time losing 1-0. Second half was different. We pressed as a team. We had two decent opportunities to equalize, one from Paulo Machado and another that hit the bar. And yes, against Goa, the best team with the ball in India, when the result is with them, they are a very dangerous team. We took some risks and lost three points. After nine games, we lost three points. We went into the game to win three points, but we didn’t play well. Goa have a very good team. We didn’t score. Congratulations to FC Goa. They deserve the three points," he said.

Read the match report here.