ISL 2019 | Eelco Schattorie heaps praise on his side’s ‘tactical masterclass’

NorthEast United FC leapt to the second place on the ISL rankings table after they recorded a 2-0 win against Mumbai City FC on Wednesday. Goals from Rowlin Borges and Bartholomew Ogbeche ensured the third straight loss for the Islanders in the tournament and brought the Highlanders one step closer to making it to the knockout stages.

NEUFC coach Eelco Schattorie lavished praise on his hard-working squad that put in a perfect tactical performance last night to help his team to a well-deserved win.

"Today, we scored two goals from the tactics that we put in taking into account a weakness in the Mumbai City FC team that we had analyzed. I’m very happy with it. Overall, the way we were playing, I was not happy. We can play better. That has to do with us not having the centre back that I normally have. But at this stage, three points are the most important," Schattorie said at a post-match conference.

Meanwhile, Mumbai City FC coach Jorge Costa rued his side’s missed opportunities after they slumped to yet another defeat on the trot. He added that his players need to learn from their mistakes or risk not making it to the knockout stage.

"We tried. We made mistakes, defensive mistakes. Also, they worked a lot and we didn’t work a lot. We didn’t work enough to win this game. It is true that I’m not happy. With three defeats in a row, I’m not happy. But if you take out Bengaluru, all the other eight teams will want to be in our position. This is the reality. But it cannot hide the bad things we are doing. Like this, we will not go far," Costa added.