Leaders Mumbai City FC returned to winnings ways in the 2020-21 Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) after a 2-1 win against Kerala Blasters FC at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Wednesday. The Blasters took the lead in the first half but a Bipin Singh goal in the opening minute of the second period and an Adam le Fondre penalty ensured that the Islanders claimed the three points.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Mumbai City head coach Sergio Lobera expressed his delight with the win. “I am very happy because it’s not easy when you don’t lose games for a long period and the reaction of the team today [after a loss in the previous game] was amazing. I am very proud of the attitude and the character of my team. It’s not easy to react this way after losing a game and it is not easy after having so many chances at the start of the game and not scoring and then conceding a goal. The reaction in the second half was amazing. I am very happy because it was an important win for us today and three very important points,” he said.

The Spaniard also revealed his message to his players at the halftime break. “It’s important to give players confidence. We did well when it came to a lot of things in the first half and at halftime, I told my players that ‘we need to be careful’… but I was very happy with the performance of the first half. We needed to continue working in the same way with the things we did well, and we needed to improve when it came to balance and actions during defence and set-pieces. But the most important thing was to give them confidence and increase the motivation of the players instead of just focusing on the result,” Lobera said.

The 44-year-old also praised Hero-of-the-Match Amrinder Singh, who made nine saves for the Islanders. “For me, Amrinder is the best goalkeeper in India. He’s a very good goalkeeper, he’s got us points. I don’t like to speak about individuals but for Amrinder, it’s just not this performance but his performances all season,” Lobera said.

Watch Sergio Lobera's Post-Match Press conference here:

Meanwhile, Kerala Blasters head coach Kibu Vicuna rued his team’s fortunes. “I think we played well and created chances. We went face-to-face against the best team in the competition but we’re not lucky. We are unlucky and the match was even… football has been very cruel to us in the last three games. We deserved to get more points than we have right now,” he said.

Watch Kibu Vicuna's Post-Match Press conference here: