Peter Reid got his Hero Indian Super League campaign back on track but you would not say by his serious demeanour at the post-match press conference that his side had won by a thumping 5-0 margin. His face only lit up in a smile after a journalist asked him to do so while fielding questions.The Mumbai City FC manager however was effusive in praise of his entire team for the standout showing at the DY Patil Stadium tonight. “It was a really good team performance. I don’t think there was any player who did not play well today. Manuel (Friedrich) at the back was very solid; the two full backs were great; I don’t think Tiago Ribeiro has played much in that position but he did a great job today. Peter Costa (full back) played a brilliant game. Subhash Singh too was outstanding,” he explained, while also singling out hat-trick man Andre Moritz. The 58-year-old Englishman who has earlier managed Manchester City, Sunderland, Leeds United and the England national team, did not expect such a big win nor did he think it was facile. “After we went up 1-0 they (FC Pune City) hit the crossbar and they had a couple of chances. But after the second goal, I thought we seized control of the game. We were disciplined and we passed the ball around very well.”“Attacking-wise, we always looked very dangerous and the plan of pairing Subhash with Moritz worked because both players came up with the goods,” he said.Reid said this win made up for the disappointment in Kolkata when they succumbed to a 3-0 defeat to Atlético de Kolkata even though for 20 minutes in the second half when Andre Moritz came in, they had done okay there.The home team manager said what this game (on natural turf) proved was that his players could pass the ball around very well. He explained that since this was a big ground, the idea was that his side should be compact in the middle and when they won the ball, they could exploit the pace down the wings. But you need a sound base to do that, he pointed out.Reid hoped that the expectations would now not rocket sky high after this huge victory. “After we got beaten in Kolkata, everybody was disappointed. Now we’re happy but the next game is the most important,” he said. The manager also paid compliments to the crowd for getting behind his side and spurring them on: “The support for the team was terrific. The crowd really got behind our side and it was a good atmosphere and I am really delighted for the players.”
