Sony Norde provided his second assist of Hero Indian Super League 2016 to set up Jackichand Singh for the only goal in Mumbai City FC’s 1-0 win over NorthEast United FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday. The win took Mumbai to the top of the table with 15 points from their nine games so far. Norde, who was a constant menace for the Highlanders before being substituted in the 64th minute, had a 75% passing accuracy and completed two successful tackles during his time on the pitch. The 27-year-old, who has also netted once this season, spoke to indiansuperleague.com after the match. Here are the excerpts from the interview.Just as NorthEast were getting a grip of the game, Mumbai scored. How important was the timing of the goal?It’s good to score. When you play away it’s always difficult. NorthEast have very good players so it was very difficult and very important to get the three points.Was it your plan to defend after scoring first?Yeah, in the second half we tried to play the same way, attack the same way and defend the same way. We didn’t have to change anything because we played well, we defended well and kept the score at 1-0.What were you thinking when the keeper was on the ball and Jackichand was on the other side?We always try to put pressure on the goalkeeper, so I went from one side and Jackichand also put pressure and we won the ball and scored.Back to the top of the table, big three points for you. What do you have to say about that?I’m very happy when I see Mumbai City at the top of the table, so everybody is very happy.How is the league shaping up for you guys?Very well. We have good quality players, we are just enjoying ourselves.
