Mumbai City FC head coach Petr Kratky expressed disappointment as the Islanders shared spoils against East Bengal FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Mumbai Football Arena in Mumbai on Saturday.

Though it was a goalless draw in Mumbai, there were chances for the hosts to score the opener. The Red and Gold Brigade displayed their defensive resilience and solidity to deny Mumbai City FC multiple goalscoring chances, which helped them secure their third consecutive clean sheet this season.

In terms of ball possession and goalscoring chances, Mumbai City FC were better in all aspects but couldn’t find a way past East Bengal FC.

Kratky did not seem happy with the result and expressed that his team should have won this match by utilising their home advantage. However, he was delighted with their supporters and the atmosphere of the stadium.

“I'm pretty disappointed we didn't win because it's our home ground,” Kratky stated in the post-match press conference.

“We should win here (at home). But there are a lot of positives. There's a lot of positivity. I saw four new players play today whom I hadn't seen yet. Unfortunately, it's short-term now. So, I haven’t seen a lot of players train. But the atmosphere was fantastic. The fans are very good. The pitch is very good. Players did what we asked them to. And again, it's just the small, fine details to score a goal and win the game. But overall, I'm very happy with what I saw today but disappointed we didn't win,” he added.

Kratky was pleased with how all his players were trying to adapt to his style of football. Mumbai City FC are yet to score in two games since Kratky has taken charge of the team. However, the new MCFC head coach believes that his team will surely score more goals going forward.

“I think it’s (our way of thinking about) how we want to play football,” he said.

“That's what you see in the park at the moment. So, I'm very pleased with that. I think we had 70% possession today. But it's not good enough to just have possession. You need to score goals,” he continued.

“I really believe if we score one goal, we'll score more and more. But the opposition is strong and fair enough. We need to be better at that (scoring goals),” he added.

The Islanders will host Mohun Bagan Super Giant on December 20. Kratky anticipates a different challenge but wants to focus more on his team’s performance.

“Mohun Bagan Super Giant are one of the top teams in the league,” he said.

“It'll be a little bit different (game). But we have to focus on ourselves. We have to recover well, prepare ourselves, and have good training. Make sure there is clarity on how we want to play,” he signed off.

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East Bengal FCMumbai City FC2023-2024