Mumbai City FC kept their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages alive with a 2-1 victory over Atlético de Kolkata at the D Y Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai. The hosts took the lead in the first half through a strike from Lalrindika ‘Didika’ Ralte, and he also set up the winner for Manuel Friedrich with a beautifully taken free kick after Kolkata drew level.Before today’s game, Didika had just one assist to show in 12 games, but his all-round performance against Kolkata earned him the ‘Hero of the Match’ award. In an exclusive interview with indiansuperleague.com, the 22-year-old Indian international from Mizoram expressed the hope that his team will still make it to the playoffs as the league stage heads toward an exciting finale:You had an assist and a goal today, how do you feel?Today we played well, so we won. It was a tough game and we finally got three points. It was very nice winning at home.What do you think are Mumbai City’s chances now?We still have a chance, we will fight till the last match, and it also depends on some results (from other games); but we will go all out in our last match to qualify."If we qualify for the semis and the final, there’s a big advantage for us and we will surely win."Lalrindika RalteWhat motivated you the most today?The crowd I think was amazing, they support us in every match and I don’t think we can play without them. We won the match without Nicolas (Anelka) and I think this is the best moment of my life.Now that the final is in Mumbai, does that motivate you to win the next match?If we qualify for the semis and the final, there’s a big advantage for us and we will surely win.Apart from you, who do you think was the most outstanding player from Mumbai today?I think Jan Štohanzl played really well today.
