Mumbai City FC suffered their defeat of the season at home after a Robin Singh winner edged them 1-0 at the Mumbai Football Arena in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 on Sunday. The Islanders had plenty of chances in a match where the away team showed good defensive organization to keep the hosts at bay.

Speaking to the media at the post-match press conference was an understandably disappointed Alexandre Guimaraes, who labelled the match as a game of two halves. “I think that it was like one half for each team,” he said. “When this situation happens, then the small details make the difference. Especially in the second half, our distance and relationship with the players was much better, and we could play to push them back. And then, just a bit of bad luck. We were very close, but unfortunately, we didn’t take the chances that we had.”

The 58-year-old also elaborated on why the Islanders play better in the second halves. “First of all, because of the way the opposition plays,” he explained. “Today, ATK pushed us back, but then we made some adjustments at half-time, and our relationship was much better.”

While Guimaraes rued missing the opportunities they got, he also praised ATK custodian Debjit Majumder for his splendid saves. “It came down to the little details,” he opined. “The first half, they played better, and we played better in the second half. We tried to do what we had to do, and created possibilities, but unfortunately, there was like a wall there, and also their keeper made some very good saves today.”