Mumbai City FC began their 2016 Hero Indian Super League with a 1-0 win against FC Pune City at the Balewadi Stadium on Monday. The solitary goal of the match came in the 69th minute after a brilliant touch by Diego Forlan set up Matias Defederico, who applied the finishing touches to bag all three points for his side. This was the first time in the Hero ISL that Mumbai City won their opening match. Mumbai City midfielder Pronay Halder, who joined Alexandre Guimaraes’ team from FC Goa ahead of the season, spoke to indinansuperleague.com after the match and discussed his team’s win. Here are the excerpts from the interview.How was your first match this year? How did it feel?It felt really good. I feel really very happy because we won.How important was it to score the first goal?We knew how important it would be to score the first goal as we had to win this game. Even if the game had ended in a draw we would have got a point. But since we got all three points, we are delighted.How does it feel beating Pune City in Pune in the Maharashtra derby?We are of course elated with the result. I would like to thank and congratulate all my teammates not just because we won but because we played well together.Was there any specific instruction from the coach, since this was the season opener for your team?Well, we played according to the instructions and hence we won.What about your own performance?This was the first match and it went well for me but there is scope for improvement. And I should improve.
