Relegated Mumbai FC play for pride

Mumbai: Mumbai FC will be playing for pride when they meet East Bengal in the last encounter of the I-League at the Cooperage here on Saturday. Irrespective of the result, the home side stand relegated and also have missed the chance to qualify for the Federation Cup.

East Bengal were once sitting pretty at the top of standings but a string of losses dented their campaign but came into the top three on the back of a 3-1 win over Minerva Punjab FC.

“This is our last match and we will use it as preparation for the Federation Cup. Away matches are always tough, but we will fight it out,” East Bengal interim coach Ranjan Chowdhury, said.

Both sides have new coaches. The home side sacked Santosh Kashyap and Spanish coach Oscar Bruzon took over.

East Bengal central defender Anwar Ali suffered a heart attack on Tuesday while returning home from a training session. His team mates will hope to boost his morale with a win.

The Cooperage has seen few goals this season as Mumbai have scored just twice and conceded two. Unless it is a high scoring game, Mumbai will become the first I-League team to score the fewest home goals and concede less too.

“We will be playing for pride and honour. Tommorow is our last chance to show how good the team is and we will certainly play to win as we do not want to finish as the last team in the league,” Bruzon said.