Mumbai City FC secured all three points against NorthEast United FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday thanks to a Balwant Singh brace. The win helped the Islanders climb to fourth spot in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 table, while the Highlanders lost their third match in a row. Speaking to the media at the post-match press conference was Mumbai City’s head coach Alexandre Guimaraes, who was delighted with his side’s victory.

“I’m very satisfied because we improved our game in terms of playing a quality game,” he gushed. “We poached them in the right moments. The first goal we recognise the situation to put the ball where it had to go. The second goal we press a little bit, their full backs or centre backs were under pressure. But overall I’m very satisfied because we improved… we played against a team which is very solid in defence.”

The Costa Rican was also pleased with the performances of Davinder Singh and Abinash Ruidas. “They (Davinder and Ruidas) performed very well,” he stated. “We managed to rotate Davinder with (Mehrajuddin) Wadoo. Last game he didn’t play; he’s a young player, so we try to give chances to young players. Also, defensively Ruidas performed much, much better. During the second half of the last game and this game, he had the confidence to get forward.”

Mumbai’s shot-stopper Amrinder Singh seemed to have picked up a knock during the game, but before concluding Guimaraes was confident about his first-choice goalkeeper’s chances of playing in their next fixture. “I think now we have nine days until the next game at home against Delhi,” he said. “I’m pretty sure he’ll recover for that game.”