Mumbai City skipper Syed Rahim Nabiis is chased by his Chennaiyin counterpart Bojan Djordjic.Indian international Syed Nabi was back in the starting lineup for Mumbai City’s game against Chennayin at the DY Patil stadium, Navi Mumbai. However, the defender did not enjoy the best of returns, as his side went down 3-0 for their second home defeat of the season.The loss knocked Mumbai down to sixth place in the Hero Indian Super League standings, behind Goa and Pune City on goal difference. Speaking exclusively to indiansuperleague.com, Nabi was visibly disappointed with the loss.This was always going to be a tough fixture, coming up against the league leaders who have also scored the most goals in the tournament. But Nabi felt Mumbai’s defensive solidity – they had not conceded for five straight games going into the matchup with Chennaiyin – would have been cause for optimism ahead of the match. The manner of the defeat was a hard pill to swallow for Nabi, who would’ve backed his side to remain tight in defence. “We never thought we would lose like this. We just couldn’t play our game,” he quipped.He did acknowledge the opponents’ strength in attack though, saying, “They used their pace to great efficiency, we didn’t do so well.”Mumbai City undoubtedly missed star striker Nicolas Anelka up front, with the Frenchman reportedly recovering from a groin strain. However, Nabi was certain Anelka would be available soon, saying, “Anelka will be back for the away matches.”The Tata Football Academy graduate rued his team’s failure to capitalize on chances early in the game, after Mumbai looked dangerous going forward in the opening phases. Nabi said, “This is football, we created chances but we couldn’t score. They did.”Nabi signed off on a confident note, assuring fans that he and his teammates would put in improved performances in their remaining matches. “We still have four matches to go. We’ll try to win those four matches. Nothing can be done about today’s result. Now we just want to win the remaining games,” he remarked.
