Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], December 16 : Mumbai City FC head coach Petr Kratky expressed his delight as his side secured a narrow victory over Mohammedan Sporting Club in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Kishore Bharati Stadium in Jadavpur on Sunday.
Vikram Partap Singh's second-half strike proved to be the decisive moment as the Islanders extended their unbeaten streak to three matches. With this triumph, Mumbai City FC have now claimed victories in their first matches against the three Kolkata clubs in the league, while maintaining a clean sheet, a press release by ISL.com stated.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men in the first half following Mohammed Irshad's back-to-back yellow cards within three minutes. Despite the first half ending in a goalless draw, Kratky's men broke the deadlock early in the second half, courtesy of Singh's brilliant right-footed goal from the edge of the box, which left Bhaskar Roy helpless at the near post.
However, the Islanders, with Yoell van Nieff, Brandon Fernandes, and others, created a few more chances in the second half, but the Mohammedan SC goalkeeper stood strong in denying the opponent's goalscoring attempts.
Kratky was delighted with his team securing all three points away from home. However, considering their success over the past couple of years, he acknowledged that their performance could have been better.
"I'm very happy with three points; it's very important for us. Performance could've been better, but it's always difficult against ten men to stick to the plan, and because the group wants to win, the pressure of winning sometimes gets to the team, so we should play better," he said in the post-match press conference as quoted from ISL.com.
"We should be more dominant, 100 per cent, but overall, we get three points away from the team, we get a clean sheet, we get 1-0, so I'm very happy for the group; they deserve it, but as you said, rightly so, we need to improve and be better and better," he added.
Kratky made a bold move by giving TP Rehenesh his first start in the ISL 2024-25 season, leaving Phurba Lachenpa on the bench. The veteran custodian delivered a confident performance between the posts, helping the Islanders register their third consecutive clean sheet.
When asked about his decision to start Rehenesh instead of Lachenpa, Kratky responded, "We have two very good goalkeepers. In my opinion, they are both very good, and to be honest, T.P. (Rehenesh) came in the pre-season, got a little injury, and so I didn't see him too much playing in competitive games. Under our way, how we want to play, I didn't see him, and I have beliefs where he needs also an opportunity to show what he can do, and he showed again with the clean sheet."
"So, it's a healthy competition; they are very good friends in the changing room," he added.
The defending ISL Cup winners have been going through a challenging phase, currently sitting in seventh place with 17 points from 11 matches. Kratky highlighted the growing competition and thrilling battles for a spot in the top six, making this season even more engaging and competitive.
In this context, the head coach remarked, "This season is different than last season. You know, we want to be dominant; we are not at the moment, but we are on a good pathway to do so because I believe in our processes."
"As you see when you look at overall statistics and how many chances we're creating and how many goals we shoot and could score, we are on a good pathway, but it's not good enough for us as a club, as a team," Kratky concluded.
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