NorthEast United FC kept their Hero Indian Super League Season 2 semi-final hopes alive following a 3-2 win against FC Pune City at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday evening. Now they need FC Pune City to beat Chennaiyin FC on December 5 to join defending champions Atlético de Kolkata, Delhi Dynamos FC and FC Goa in the semi-finals. Head coach Cesar Farias spoke to the media after the match and assessed the situation for his team. “We said from the very beginning that this is a very even league…We had some difficulties in the beginning with injuries and missing some players but the team grew with the season and we got stronger. We are still alive, we have a chance and that’s football, right? Now we have to wait and see what happens [on Saturday],” Farias told reporters after the match.For the Highlanders, Nicolas Velez, Diomansy Kamara and Andre Bikey scored. They were comfortably heading towards a win when Adrian Mutu threw a scare into them in the 86th minute by converting a free-kick and making it 3-2. Even in their previous game against Delhi Dynamos FC, NorthEast had conceded a late goal. Farias admitted it was a matter of concern for his team. “Yes, we’ve conceded goals in the dying minutes in the past couple of matches. We have to analyse the mistakes that we made in those moments and move forward,” the Venezuelan said.Farias also thanked all NorthEast United FC fans for supporting the team all through the league stage and hoped Pune will do them a big favour on Saturday. “I want to thank all the eight states that form the NorthEast team and specially the city of Guwahati. It has been our home for the last couple of months. I hope destiny gives us the chance to give the fans one more game. We have performed much better this year. There has been a tremendous improvement in the Indian players of NorthEast United FC,” he said.“I’m eternally thankful to all the players that form NorthEast. Now we wait with hope because when there’s pressure that you have to win, it’s never very easy, so the pressure goes to them [Chennaiyin FC] now. Statistics say that Pune are very strong at home. Their players gave their best today. They are a very good team, they fought until the last minute. And we are convinced that they will do everything possible to win the next game. In football, there’s a lot of honour and prestige. This is a young league and it deserves a good game for the final open spot for the semis.”
