Mumbai City FC head coach hails win against Jamshedpur FC 'huge result'

Jamshedpur FC put on a strong show in the opening half with seven shots compared to Mumbai City FC's two shots. The deadlock was soon broken by Boris Singh as he gave the home team the lead in the 63rd minute.

However, the Islanders showed their match-winning mentality and came back with two goals in the last minutes by Lallianzuala Chhangte and substitute Vikram Partap Singh respectively.

Mumbai City FC continues their march for the League Shield trophy with their 13th victory of the season from 16 games and sets a new record for the longest unbeaten run in ISL history. Meanwhile, Jamshedpur FC continues to stay rooted in the 10th position in the ISL points table.

Jamshedpur FC remains one of the very few teams to test Mumbai City FC this season. The Red Miners drew the reverse fixture 1-1 at the Mumbai Football Arena and were ahead against the league leaders clash till the 80th minute.

Buckingham mentioned that the performances don't justify Jamshedpur FC's position in the points table and stated his team took points from a very tough away fixture.

"We knew coming into Jamshedpur, I said before the game, (they are) a good team. I'm very surprised where they are in the league because of the football they play. And I think the results are not reflective of the performances and we've seen that again tonight," Buckingham said in the official post-match conference.

Mumbai City FC's attack has fired on all cylinders with the team scoring 47 goals in 16 matches. They have 17 more goals than the second-placed Hyderabad FC.

The Englishman shed light on how he's pleased with the way the team came back in the match and how the substitutes made an impact on the outcome.

"The good thing for us was when something wasn't working, we actually tried to make a change before they scored. But unfortunately, we couldn't get the players onto the pitch on time. But the pleasing thing was when we did make the change, the impact that those players had against a very good team and to come away with three points is hugely pleasing. We found different ways to not just the results, but obviously the performance, especially the last twenty minutes," Buckingham said.

The league leaders are four games away from achieving the unprecedented feat of winning the League Shield unbeaten. The 37-year-old marked the victory as a huge result and highlighted what it meant to his side.

"It's a huge result, but I think it's more the manner in which we were able to achieve the result. We keep speaking about how we've got a way of playing. Sometimes you don't have it doesn't go the way that you want. The pleasing thing to go down here and to be able to come back and not just come back and get the equalizer but the reaction to the players that equalizer wasn't to settle for the draw. The players actually picked the ball up on the way back and put it on the halfway line because they weren't happy and satisfied with the draw, despite how hard this place is to come. So that actually that mentality to then go on and win the game. 16 games and four to go is going to be so important if we want to be successful both in the regular league season and now in the playoffs," he stated as quoted by the ISL website.

Vikram Singh, the 21-year-old attacker, sealed the victory for the Islanders and scored his first goal of the season. The MCFC head coach praised the attacker for his tenacity and sees him as an important player for the team.

"Vikram (Singh) is a wonderful young player, a wonderful young man who has already showcased what he's capable of doing at this level. We've tried to give him as many minutes as every time he's come onto the field, he's had an impact. He has won two penalties for us and got a really good shot saved in the previous game. And then tonight to come on and to score the winner, he's already shown what he can do. Now if he can continue doing that work, he's got a very bright future with us and ahead of himself," Buckingham concluded. (ANI)