ISL 2016: Mumbai City FC, Delhi Dynamos battle for spot, momentum ahead of semifinals

Mumbai: Mumbai City FC and Delhi Dynamos FC, who have already booked semifinal berths in the Indian Super League (ISL), will fight it out at the Mumbai Football Arena in suburban Andheri in Mumbai on Saturday to decide who tops the league table. Two points separate the two teams with Mumbai City having 22 as compared to their rivals’ 20 and a win for either would take them to the top while a draw will keep the home team at the peak going into the play-offs. [caption id=“attachment_3138040” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mumbai City FC need a draw against Delhi Dynamos to ensure top spot in the table. ISL[/caption] When the two teams met in the first leg in Delhi, they played a high scoring 3-3 draw with plenty of twists. As they battle again in the second leg, Mumbai City coach Alexandre Guimaraes believes goals will not be in short supply as they battle for the top spot. “This can be an open game, like the one in Delhi. Like we saw yesterday night (between FC Goa and Chennaiyin FC) when teams are liberated, they can play without too much concern. I hope fans can go there and support our team and we can give them a good performance and a good game,” said Guimaraes on Friday. The Costa Rican coach said he did not think of resting key players for the play-off battles ahead. “We have to continue to do what we have done well. For us, no matter what, it’s an important game because we want to finish with the best points. This is good for the whole organisation and that is our objective tomorrow. I am not going to rest any player. The player who will play have to be 100 percent fit,” he said. Delhi were leading the ISL table for long spells and they can now finish on top if they can get the better of Mumbai City. In the last match against NorthEast United, Delhi were not their usual self and coach Gianluca Zambrotta wanted his team to pull up their socks. “Against NorthEast United, we played a very low-intensity game. I didn’t like the first part and the team’s reaction after conceding two goals. We have to work together and play with a lot more intensity. We must have a good attitude for this game and also semi-finals. We should play like we know,” said Zambrotta. The Delhi coach said the team wanted to finish on top. “We want to win and try to be first in the league but it’s the same thinking that our opponents will have. We have done a good job until now and we are focused to finish the first part of the tournament in the best way. After that, we will prepare for the semi-finals and continue in the same manner,” said Zambrotta.