GUWAHATI: NorthEast United FC is looking for a 5th consecutive win as they clash with Jamshedpur FC at the steel city this Saturday. This would be a very crucial game for the team northeast on its road to the playoffs.
NorthEast United FC continued their excellent form collecting another 3 points after beating FC Pune City by a 2-0 margin on Tuesday night at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium, Pune. The 23rd minute strike by A Bartholomew Ogbeche and a clean penalty by Juan Mascia deep into the game ensured all 3 points for the Higlanders.
The win took them straight to the second position on the league table with 17 points from 8 matches. At present, they are at the third position tied up with FC Goa at 17 points each. Well, FC Goa’s 17 points came from 9 matches and the Highlanders have a tight match in the furnace on Saturday.
With 4 away wins out of 4, the Highlanders now make their way to face a daunting task against the Men of Steel, Jamshedpur FC, at JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur this Saturday.
The NorthEast United FC played a calculated defensive game to beat FC Pune City. Both the teams played with similar formations and it was really a tight game.
NEUFC head coach, Eelco Schattorie seemed pleased with the win over Pune and talked about the tactics employed. It seems the tweak in the formation that led to a change in the playing style helped the NEUFC get ahead in the game.
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“If we play 4-3-3, we have an extra midfielder that’s great to play football. But I had to play 4-4-2 but the opponent also played 4-4-2 and it becomes a bit direct and it becomes a case of fight. You can still play but we were a bit of negative in there because I had to put Gurwinder in there. So that was very difficult. Before the game, I know it was going to be difficult. The first 15 minutes was not actually that bad. The game was won by the goal that we scored,” Schattorie said.
Schattorie said that the win against Pune FC was beating the odds and by far the best performance by the Highlanders.
“It was a very difficult situation. With the traveling there was fatigue. The most difficult thing was that Mislav Komorski was injured. And that means we had to bring in Gurwinder Singh. He is a fantastic boy. Only problem is that we had to play with an extra forward, Juan (Mascia) and I cannot play 4-3-3. Which meant we had to change to 4-4-2. Pune also played 4-4-2 and it was almost one against one. The first 15 minutes we were decent, we were in control. But after that suddenly, we stopped doing that. They got a lot of corners. At half-time I told them don’t be scared to play. Have the guts to do it from the back. But the performance was something that I’m happy with. This is how I want to play football,” he said.
