Mumbai City boss Peter Reid had nothing but praise for his players following their 2-1 win over Atletico de Kolkata in their second-last group fixture of the Indian Super League.
The Ranbir Kapoor co-owned side needed to win against Kolkata to keep their hopes of making the top four alive, and they did exactly that courtesy strikes from Lalrindika Ralte and Manuel Friedrich.
And Reid, who had earlier stated that his side were keen to take their revenge against Kolkata, feels that his side were "absolutely brilliant", insisting that they deserved to win.
"It was a really good performance," the English boss told ISL's official website. "The players were absolutely brilliant."
"I thought Pavel Cmovs was great at the back, and Asif Kottayil in the middle of the park was absolutely outstanding. I think it was a result we deserved, against a good side."
The 58-year-old said that he was especially pleased to see his side do well despite being forced to make a number of changes due to injuries.
"Due to injuries, we had to change the formation three or four times, and I thought the players adapted really well. All credit to them," said the former Manchester City boss.
Meanwhile, Atletico de Kolkata manager Antonio López Habas is confident his side will qualify for the semifinals despite being under a lot of pressure to beat FC Goa in their final fixture, after losing to losing to Mumbai City on Sunday.
"We are not worried. We have a home game (against FC Goa) on Wednesday (10 December)," the Spaniard told ISL's official website.
"If we win we don't have to worry about anyone, whether Pune City, Kerala Blasters or Delhi Dynamos."
"I trust my players and we will do our best to go through. We would have liked to go through but it's sport."
Despite getting off to a very good start in the ISL this season, Kolkata have struggled of late, picking up only two points from their last four fixtures. And Habas feels that complacency may have contributed to his side's dip in form.
"As you know, we stayed on top for the first ten rounds. We thought we had qualified and maybe that's why we were slack," he added.
Despite claiming that he is happy with his side's performances, Habas admits that they need to alter their game plan to reach the semifinals.
"We are playing at a high level. We are controlling the game, but we have to change to reach the semis," Habas said.
