Michael Chopra starred in Kerala Blasters FC’s first win of Hero Indian Super League 2016 against Mumbai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday evening. The 32-year-old striker capped off a brilliant all-round performance with the winning goal to bring an end to Alexandre Guimaraes' unbeaten start to this season. Chopra’s goal was his first ever in the league and also earned him the Hero-of-the-Match award. The former Newcastle United striker spoke to indiansuperleague.com after the game and shared his thoughts on his side’s 1-0 win. Here are the excerpts from the interview.How big is this win for you and the team?For the team it’s a massive win. We knew that if we have to challenge for the top 4 we had to win today’s game. We knew Mumbai are a good team but we managed to cut all their attacking options out and the way we played in the first half, we were phenomenal. It just showed the team spirit we have got at the moment, it’s unbelievable. The passing and movement in the first half was excellent and my goal was down to the lads. I’m just pleased for the fans, they keep turning up in their thousands and they deserved it.In the four games so far you have only conceded two goals. Are you satisfied with the team’s defence?There was no question about the team shape, we knew we have a good team shape, we knew we can work hard for each other, it was just a case of taking the chances and I took the second one. But the most important thing is we got three points.How does it feel scoring your first-ever goal of the Hero ISL?I have been waiting two years to score a goal in the ISL and I’m so emotional now. Even in the 2014 final, still don’t know how Edel Bete saved and even in the last match as well, but I managed to stick this one away.You will be on the road for a while now with Pune City next up. What are your thoughts on that?It’s going to be tough but we are going to go there full of confidence, with a win under our belt which is the main thing. So we’ll be looking forward to it.
