Mumbai City FC’s 2-0 loss to FC Pune City in Pune left the team a mountain to climb in order to qualify for the semifinals. The game was virtually a must-win for head coach Peter Reid’s side, and the loss means that even winning their remaining two games will not be enough, on its own, to put Mumbai City into the semifinals – they will need results elsewhere in the Hero Indian Super League over the next to go there way. A visibly dejected Reid addressed the media after the match, and accepted his team were second best on the day.“We were second best, and the best team won. The players went out and gave me everything they had. It just wasn’t good enough,” said Reid, reacting to the loss.Mumbai City had injury concerns in their squad, with many key players missing in action. But Reid found no need for justifying the poor performance today. “We had a team out there today, so I’m not going to make excuses. The team I put out today, they weren’t good enough. But that’s football.”The team had a chance to take the lead in the second half when they were awarded a penalty, but Arindam Bhattacharya parried away Tiago Ribeiro’s tame attempt from the spot. Although it was a crucial moment in the game, Reid dismissed the notion that the penalty miss affected his players for the rest of the game. “I wouldn’t say that. To be fair, I thought we were better in the second half. I tried to change things up a bit; you can talk about tactics, about injuries, but at the end of the day, results are what matter.”The team still have a mathematical chance of finishing in the top four, with two wins and favourable results from other clashes. And the gaffer still has hope for the team. “This has been a fantastic format, this league. One of the things about the league being it’s very competitive. We have two games to go. I want to win the next game. I want to win the last game. I don’t care what happens. It’s competitive, and your need to show a lot of pride, professionalism.” Mumbai head back home to take on Atlético de Kolkata on December 7 in their last home game of the season, knowing that only a win would be acceptable.
