ISL 2019-20 | A lack of concentration cost us all three points, opines Khalid Jamil

NorthEast United FC held onto a 2-2 draw against Mumbai City FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday. Panagiotis Triadis scored for the Highlanders in the 9th minute to make it 1-0. However, two goals from Tunisian amine Chermiti in the gap of 10 minutes put visitors Mumbai in the front, but a 42nd-minute strike from Highlanders talisman Asamoah Gyan levelled the scores.

With this draw, NorthEast United have continued their unbeaten streak in the league with nine points in five games. The Highlanders are now fourth on the table with two wins and three draws and NorthEast’s assistant coach Khalid Jamil has stated that a lack of concentration cost his side all three points.

“Everyone gave it their best. There was a lack of concentration which cost us all three points but these things happen in football.” Khalid Jamil told reporters at the post-match press conference, ISL website reported.

The Highlanders had only 40% of the ball possession and mainly played on the counter – which was quite rare for head coach Robert Jaime's tactics, especially at home. Asked if Mumbai City FC’s attacking forced them to change the style to counter-attack play, Khalid admitted that the club simply played how their head coach had asked them to play.

“We played as per head coach Robert Jarni’s plans. We mixed attacks as counter-attack. We are not thinking about our unbeaten status. We just concentrate on our job match by match. We have to go into every match with the intent of giving our best.”

NorthEast United's defence showed weakness in the absence of Dutch defender Kai Heerings who is suspended for two matches and the assistant of Robert Jarni denied such weaknesses “There were no weakness. But there was a lack of concentration. Nim (Dorjee Tamang) was playing his first match for us. But he and Mislav Komorski both grew into the game slowly." 42-year-old opined.

Defender Nim Dorjee who played his first match of the season for highlanders missed a clearance directly which led to Mumbai City’s second goal of the night by Amine Chermiti in the 32nd minute. However, Jamil supported his youngster, “He lost his concentration in that moment. If you see his overall performance, he was good. Everyone was good. Football is a team game not an individual sport.”