ISL: "I expected a tough game from a very good Hyderabad team," says Mumbai City's Des Buckingham

Hyderabad FC defeated the Indian Super League defending champions Mumbai City FC with a scoreline of 1-3 in their second match of the 2021-22 season at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa. This was Hyderabad's first victory over Mumbai City FC in the history of the league.

Captain João Victor, Bartholomew Ogbeche, and Rohit Danu scored the goals for the Nizams from Hyderabad. Moroccan magician Ahmed Jahouh scored an early goal for the Islanders but it was not enough for Mumbai City to get a point or more against Hyderabad FC.

Mumbai City FC had their fair share of chances throughout the game. They controlled the overall possession of the match. Ahmed Jahouh scored a brilliant goal within six minutes from kick-off. Later, in the thirteenth minute, captain João Victor converted a spot-kick which was given to them as the result of Bipin Singh's challenge on the Australian winger Joel Chianese in the box. The 'Bart' scored a great goal against his former side which was assisted by Aniket Jadhav in the fifty-third minute of the match. 19-year-old Rohit Danu who came on as a substitute scored the third goal for Hyderabad FC.

Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham talked about the result and his side's performance in the post-match press conference. Here is what he said.

Pre-match expectations about the game

One of the reporters asked the coach whether he expected the scoreline. Des Buckingham replied, "I didn't expect this scoreline but I expected a tough game from a very good Hyderabad team and that's certainly what we got. I thought it was a very even game. The half-time 1-1 was pretty fair."

What went wrong after taking an early lead?

The coach was asked next that the team took the lead inside six minutes and what went wrong after that. The 36-year-old English head coach replied, "Again we had a lot of possession. We need to be more effective and a bit calmer around the edge of the box. The game got quite transitional at points with lots of fouls from both sides. Hyderabad took their chances and we didn't."

Ahead of the repeat of last season's final

The final question that was asked to Des Buckingham was that Mumbai City FC faces ATK Mohun Bagan in their next fixture and how difficult will it be to regroup the players in a short period of time. The former Reading and Oxford United goalkeeper answered, "It won't be difficult for us. Last week when we won our first game and everyone gets carried away losing this one. So we will prepare the players in the same way and we'll approach and look forward to that game."