Mumbai City FC have effected a remarkable turnaround after three losses in their opening four games, two of which were massive defeats. However, Mumbai are unbeaten in five games and have not conceded a single goal over that span. But they do have a tough task on their hands when they come up against resurgent FC Goa, who thumped Delhi Dynamos FC 1-4 recently in Delhi, in Navi Mumbai on Monday.Assistant coach Steve Darby is however confident that Mumbai City’s newfound defensive resilience will hold them in good stead against Goa’s confident attack. Darby said the early defeats were a wakeup call that the team needed to pay more attention to their defensive duties. “The first thing was that we should stop losing,” Darby explained during the pre-match press conference on the eve of the fixture against Goa. “That was the most important thing for obvious reasons such as the points but also the mental reasons. Players don’t like being beaten and it just doesn’t help morale.”Although fans love to see the ball hit the back of the net, Darby reasoned that the 0-0 draws that Mumbai achieved in their last two matches are actually a sign of the league’s growing quality. “It’s a sign of a mature league. Usually, whether you go to Bundesliga games or the Serie A, you only get the occasional big score, and I think that’s happening now,” said the Englishman. “Most of the scores are tight scores, which is real football.”However, Darby could not shake off questions about the lack of goals -- Mumbai have scored just three goals in seven games, not counting the five they recorded against FC Pune City. Darby assured that the squad is working hard to rediscover their goal scoring touch.“We would love to score more, believe me,” Darby insisted. “Sometimes, you get lucky when you score, to be honest. We haven’t scored in the last two games, but we haven’t been unlucky. There were decent performances by all the sides we played and our performance was good as well.”He also credited the opposition for the goal drought, with their last opponent, Kerala Blasters FC, having marquee player David James standing between the sticks. “Last game it was James. We had one header which he saved and then the great shot by Tiago Ribeiro which James got on to the post. It was going in, bottom corner,” Darby rued. However, he did concede that the attack needs to step up. “We haven’t missed any chances, but to be fair, we haven’t created many either,” he quipped.Darby asserted however that the goals will come and there is no need to change their approach to the game. “We go for a win every game,” he emphasised. “We don’t give anything away. We have people like Nicolas Anelka, and André Moritz who can score.” Speaking specifically about the game against Goa, Darby explained, “Our aim is to stop them scoring and then, we think we can get goals, especially at home.”The assistant coach also praised the fans, who have been in full voice during all home games. “We are told there will be a good crowd. It really is helpful. It sounds like a lot of noise!” he enthused.
