Mumbai City FC went top of the table in Hero Indian Super League 2016 following their 1-0 win against Atlético de Kolkata at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium in Kolkata on Tuesday. The only goal of the match came in the 79th minute through Diego Forlan, who powered in a left-footed shot beyond a helpless Debjit Majumder in ATK’s goal.Tuesday’s win was Mumbai first in five games and head coach Alexandre Guimaraes was proud of his players, who put in a stellar performance despite missing key individuals such as Matias Defederico, Boithang Haokip, Pronay Halder, Leo Costa and first-choice goalkeeper Roberto Volpato. “All I can say is that I would like to see other teams come here and play against a very good team like Atlético de Kolkata with the kind of injury list that we have, knowing that one of the best goal keepers of the ISL not playing and still play like we did. In the first-half we played very well. In the second half, we played well and defended well too. In football, it is about making your chances count. In the first-half, we did have more chances but in the second half we made our chance count,” Guimaraes told the media after the match.Mumbai’s forward-line saw Sony Norde spearheading the attack with Forlan occupying a slightly withdrawn number 10 role. Commenting on the Norde’s switch of position from the left wing to the furthest man forward, Guimaraes said: “We had to make up for the absence of players like Matias Defederico, Leo Costa, Boithang Haokip, Pronay Halder and Roberto Volpato. We also had Thiago who flew in today. We had to plan our line-up differently and I think we managed well. Everybody understood that with all the circumstances, we don’t have to just play well but play with all our heart on the pitch.”He continued: “Everybody realized the situation and performed fantastically. I am satisfied with the whole team. Everyone played well including the players that came off the bench.”The first encounter between these two sides in Hero ISL 2016 ended in a 1-1 draw with Javi Lara scoring a late equaliser for the 2014 winners. When asked if ATK attacking late on again was a contributing factor in Forlan’s winner, Guimaraes said: “I think we learnt from our last game against Atletico de Kolkata, even in that game in the first half we had the chance to finish the game but we didn’t. So, we learnt from our mistake that we were playing a very good team who will not give up. So, we took precautions and later reduced their game to just crosses and we managed well with the defensive players that we had.”
