BENGALURU: Bengaluru FC have dominated the league stage of the Indian Super League so far, much like they did last season. They lead the table with 23 points from nine games. Despite being without their star striker Miku, Bengaluru have done well to remain the only unbeaten team so far. But on Sunday, when they take on second-placed Mumbai City FC, it will be a different story. Mumbai, despite a poor start and a 0-5 drubbing at the hands of FC Goa, have gained momentum.
While Carles Cuadrat’s boys have managed to avoid defeats, they haven’t been superb. They left it late to win against ailing sides like Pune and Delhi and scraped through with a point against a strong NorthEast United side in Guwahati, thanks to Chencho Gyeltshen’s brilliant overhead kick. They have created chances aplenty but have lacked the finishing edge that Miku provides. Their attacking trio – Sunil Chhetri, Chencho and Udanta Singh – has been guilty of missing chances. Cuadrat though isn’t a worried man. He believes that, as long as the team is creating chances, there is nothing to worry about.
“There is always an area for improvement in football. We are working well together, especially on how to attack against teams that defend well. It’s not true that we earned points because we got lucky in the last few games. The truth is that we have been working very hard to get to these crucial moments,” Cuadrat said. “This team has the quality and they don’t give up. We want to attack till the last moment of each game.”
Mumbai are on a six-game unbeaten streak that sees them with 20 points from 10 games. Collective effort has been the key for Jorge Costa’s boys and they can make things difficult for Bengaluru. But they have to fight fatigue as they are playing their third game in seven days with a lot of travelling involved.
“We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for the match against Bengaluru. But I know what we have to do on Sunday. I have not found any weak points in the Bengaluru side. They are very good individually and as a team. Having said that, I want to go home with three points and I think we can do it,” said Costa.