ISL 2022-23: "The first half was possibly the best football we've played" - Mumbai City boss Des Buckingham delighted with Kerala Blasters win

Mumbai City FC beat Kerala Blasters 2-0 in their fourth 2022-23 Indian Super League (ISL) match of the season on Friday (October 28).

Mumbai City locked horns with Kerala Blasters in their second away match of the ISL season at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi. First-half goals from Mehtab Singh and Jorge Pereyra Diaz saw the Islanders take home the three points.

FT: KBFC 0⃣-2⃣ MCFC

A BIG win in Kochi puts us 1⃣ point behind 1st place on the table. A solid outing from #TheIslanders this evening 👏

#KBFCMCFC #MumbaiCity #AamchiCity🔵 https://t.co/ioPwV8urap

Speaking to the media after the match, Mumbai City head coach Des Buckingham provided his initial thoughts on the result:

"I think the first half was possibly the best football we've played since I've been here with and without the ball. I think the goals we scored a very good, but more so the whole 45 minutes. I thought we played some really good free-flowing attacking football and I think we deserved to go into half-time with the 2-0 lead that we had."

The Englishman praised Kerala's home crowd and shared how hard it is to play against them in Kochi. He said:

"We expected Kerala to come at us in the second half the way they did. You don't come to Kochi and play in front of these wonderful fans who fill the stadium and made so much noise throughout, it's not easy."

He added:

"I don't think many teams will come here and take many points, let alone three. So, the pleasing thing is that we leave here not just with the win, but also two goals, good performance."

Buckingham also expressed his delight at how Mumbai City managed to maintain their two-goal lead and leave Kochi with three points and a clean sheet. He said:

"The way we saw out the second half despite the threats that they did pose and they had a lot of the ball in the second half, how we defended, give us another clean sheet. It's going be very important to try and get both of those together as we progress through this season."

Buckingham pleased with Diaz's display for Mumbai City

Diaz was handed his second ISL start in Mumbai City colors and he marked the occasion by finding the back of the net against his former employers. Asked about the decision to take the striker off just after the one-hour mark, Buckingham said:

"He just got tired. He hasn't had much game time. He started the first game and then he's come on in the others."

Buckingham went on to explain why he decided to start Diaz against Kerala Blasters:

"I think there were two reasons to start Diaz this evening. One, because he's worked extremely hard and been patient. The injury he had took him out the knockout stages of the Durand Cup, which was disappointing for him and for us."

The Mumbai City boss added:

"But, he has worked very hard and we have brought him here to lead our line because of the type of player he is."

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He also praised Greg Stewart for his performances and shared how Mumbai City's playing style changes when he plays as a centre-forward. He said:

"I also know that when we play with a recognised centre-forward, we can pose a different threat that maybe we do, when we play Greg [Stewart] there, we play a different style if we do that. I also know that coming back to your old club, good players often play well against their old clubs and forwards, particularly, tend to score. So, there was a bit of that in there as well."

He added:

"So, I'm very pleased with the almost 65 minutes he has played. That'll help him for next week whether he starts or comes on. He's a very important component to how he want to play going forward."

Mumbai City have scored eight goals from their four matches in the ISL so far this season. While the two have been own-goals, the six other goals have been netted by six different players.

Responding to a question posed by Sportskeeda about the same, Buckingham said:

"That was a purposeful thing in our recruitment drive at the back end of last year. Last year, when we had Igor Angulo, Igor is a wonderful finisher, but when Igor stopped scoring, we struggled to get contributions elsewhere."

The Mumbai City boss added:

"When we went out and went for people like Greg Stewart, Albert Noguera and to compliment [Lallianzuala] Chhangte, to complement Bipin [Singh] and the likes and bringing Diaz as well, we've now got multiple threats, which gives us different ways of not only playing, but also different ways of scoring."

Buckingham was then asked about his thoughts on Kerala Blasters fans who were in attendance to support the home team, to which he replied:

"This is football. This is why I came to India. I want to experience different parts of India and certainly the football culture here is huge. To come here and to be able to play in front of a packed stadium and hear the noise and the support that they give the home team, that's what we want."

He added:

"As players and coaches, you want to put on a show for the fans and you want to play in front of the fans. I hope our fans now turn up next week [against ATK Mohun Bagan] and fill the stadium for what will be another big game for us."

The Mumbai City manager concluded:

"I really enjoyed this evening and if we can fill stadiums like that throughout the rest of the season, I think it'll improve the quality of the football as well because the players really enjoy it."

Mumbai City now sit second in the ISL table with eight points, having won two and drawn two of their four matches so far.