ISL 2020-21 preview: Confident NorthEast United meets a resurgent Mohun Bagan
ISL 2020-21: A confident NorthEast United FC unit will take on second-placed ATK Mohun Bagan in match 72 of the 2020-21 Indian Super League season.
Published : Jan 25, 2021 21:06 IST
NorthEast United FC will be banking on the newfound confidence following its win in the previous round when it meets the currently second placed ATK Mohun Bagan FC in an Indian Super League (ISL 2020-21) fixture at the Fatorda Stadium on Tuesday.
Immediately after seeing off its Spanish coach Gerard Nus earlier this month, NorthEast United ended a seven-match winless streak by beating Jamshedpur in its 12th outing of the League. This saw an increment in its position in the standings but NorthEast will have to contend with a more successful opposition in Mohun Bagan which already seven wins to its credit.
With the tournament already in the second phase of the contest, NorthEast needs to find more success to be in contention for a play-off slot. The goal scoring part, an area where the team drew huge arrears, seems to be solved with the arrival of Deshorn Brown from Bengaluru FC. The Jamaican player got one of the two goals in the win against Jamshedpur.
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“It's a different style to what Bengaluru play. I think we will get more scoring opportunities here. I like the style and it will do better for me in the long run as well. The difference is that these guys, they tried to penetrate down the middle as compared to Bengaluru. At Bengaluru, they try to go out wide and play crosses, but the delivery of the crosses is not great which makes it really difficult for the strikers to score,” Brown said on the eve of the match against Mohun Bagan.
Brown found a good ally in one of the team’s old timers, Federico Gallego, who made both the assists in the goals against Jamshedpur. “They (Mohun Bagan) are a good team but any team can beat any team. We just have to get going from the beginning and things will happen,” Brown added with assistant coach Alison Kharsyntiew nodding in consonance.
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For Mohun Bagan the objective now is more about catching up with Mumbai City FC and secure the top spot in the League. Mohun Bagan coach Antonio Lopez Habas insisted on this aspect saying that his team needs to spruce up its attack department especially after the way it escaped with an added-time goal against Chennaiyin FC in its previous outing.
“Goal is the most important thing in football and it doesn’t matter whether it comes in the last minute or in the first minute. But personally I think the goal should come within the 90 minutes not in the extra time for it shows how organised we are as a team,” Habas hoped that his team’s attack department will be more organised in the upcoming matches.
When asked about his team’s chances of finishing on top, Habas said his target presently is winning more matches. “We will take one match at a time and try to pick up three points in as many games as possible. This will be our philosophy,” Habas said.