BENGALURU: After a loss and four draws in their last five outings, Bengaluru FC will face an uphill task to get back to winning ways as they take on last season's shield winners Mumbai City FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.
City, who are regrouping after the exit of flamboyant coach Des Buckingham, have lost just once in their last 13 away games in ISL and that was here at the Fortress last season. It would thus be a great chance for the Blues to repeat that win as MCFC shifted their focus to the ISL after a long break which saw them lose all their matches in the AFC Champions League. However, the Islanders, who are fifth with 11 points from five games, will try to close the gap with FC Goa who have 19 from seven games.
BFC, meanwhile, have dropped to ninth place and desperately need to make the most out of their home games. Against Punjab FC, the hosts were staring down the barrel before they forced their way back after making three changes at half-time.
Coach Simon Grayson voiced his concern about his players making mistakes and hoped for a quick turnaround feeding off the energy of the home fans. "We are trying to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible. We have drawn too many games recently when we wanted to win them. But sometimes when you play the reigning champions it's no better than on a Friday night at the Kanteerava Stadium. We are looking forward to it and hopefully we will win the game," Grayson said.
“We didn't start well in the previous game and found ourselves with an uphill task of being 3-1 down. But then we showed a lot of character and spirit and we should have won that game. We are unbeaten at home this season and we want to maintain that," he said.
BFC's most impressive performance at home was to hold FC Goa goalless and the fans will be hoping for another inspired performance from Sunil Chhetri and Co on Friday.
On Thursday: Jamshedpur FC 2 (Laldinpuia 45+4; Chima 90) drew with Chennaiyin FC 2 (Farukh Choudhary 9, N Meetei 40).
Today's match: Bengaluru FC vs Mumbai City FC (8 pm IST)
