Peter Reid sported a wide smile of satisfaction as he fielded questions post his team’s triumph over the visiting Delhi Dynamos FC at the DY Patil Sports Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Having overseen his team’s second consecutive win, marked by another clinical finish from their star striker Nicolas Anelka, the Mumbai City FC head coach was pleased with the solid showing on home turf.When asked if he felt that Subrata Paul was required to make one save too many and that their win was infused with luck, Reid vehemently disagreed. “I thought Subrata’s handling of crosses was excellent, but I disagree with the statement about our team snatching a lucky win. We were great in defence and put in a solid performance at the back. One small criticism that I have is that our final balls were poor. We broke very well and scored from a moment of quality. But we nearly paid the penalty when (Alessandro) Del Piero put his header wide. That was their best chance of the game. Otherwise, we were solid at the back and created a lot of opportunities. I would want our finishing to improve.”The former Manchester City manager was also delighted with yet another clean sheet and said that they would now need to carry this form into their away games. “I hope we can keep performing like this on the road. After the game against Chennai, we introspected about our defensive lapses and I am happy that the boys have taken responsibility. They have looked a lot more solid. Deepak (Mandal) and Pavel (Čmovš) were brilliant. I have to pay tribute to Subhash (Singh) as well; his bit of skill created the goal for us!”He also showered praise on Anelka’s finish and explained why he was in awe of it, “It was an absolutely fantastic finish. People watching it on television will think that there is nothing special about it, but let me tell you when you have such a tall goalkeeper bearing down on you, to finish it off that calmly requires a touch of class and Nicolas provided it.”Reid also provided an update on Mumbai City FC’s captain Syed Rahim Nabi’s injury and stated that it was a groin strain that was being iced at the moment and hoped that it would not cause any serious harm. “We are hoping that it heals quickly. It is an intense league and the games are coming thick and fast. We need everyone fit and hopefully tomorrow, we will get some good news.”The head coach also stated that he was happy with everyone in the team playing for each other, “The boys are helping each other out. During half-time, Anelka took (André) Moritz to the side and gave him a short lecture on some things that he wanted to impress upon the boy. I think it is great. All I keep telling my boys is to improve their passing. If their passing is good, their overall game improves by 20 per cent. We are giving the ball away a bit too much for my liking, but I will not fault my boys for their endeavour and passion.”The gaffer also agreed when asked if Anelka would soon be vying with Chennaiyin FC’s Elano for top honours. “I think Elano has been outstanding. Nicolas has only played a couple of games and he will get better. You never know which way he is going to shoot when you are in goal and he has that fantastic quality of finding the back of the net. He could be playing in the Premier League now, so we are extremely lucky to have him. I am sure he will be up there in the honours list when the tournament draws to a close.”Mumbai City’s goalkeeper Subrata Paul, who was awarded the ISL Emerging Player of the Match tonight, was very modest when asked about his vocal endeavours to organise his backline, “I only do what the coach tells me. It is my duty to carry his instructions out. The team maintained its shape and did not buckle.” He also stated that he had nothing particular in mind before pulling off the brilliant save to deny Del Piero from a free kick late in the game. “I am a goalkeeper. It is my job to protect my goal. I do not think I did anything extraordinary. I did what was required of me,” he concluded.
