Sergio Lobera has long been known for getting his players to spray passes all around the pitch. During his stint as Goa coach, he averaged 535 passes per match.

He has not been with this Mumbai team for long, but he has already started getting them to stick to his philosophy. Despite falling to a 0-1 defeat to NorthEast United, 10-men Mumbai had more than 60 per cent possession and completed 451 passes to their opponents' 217. No team has passed more in the league so far.

One team has come close though — Juan Ferrando's Goa. In the 2-2 draw against Bengaluru, they managed to complete 448 passes, more than twice what their opponents managed.

For Ferrando, who turned the game around against Bengaluru with two brilliant second-half substitutions, worrying about what the opponent can do is a waste of time. “My focus is on my team and I am not thinking about the opposition," he said. "The most important thing is to be positive, competitive, and win three points. Against Mumbai or any other team, our mentality will be the same — win three points.”

Lobera, despit Mumbai's loss, is happy with how the team is playing and believes that it is only a matter of time before the goals start coming. "We are the team with the most passes till now," he said. "You cannot just consider the shots on target stat.

The chances of Farukh (Choudhary) and Sarthak (Golui) were close. We did some things very well. We played with 10 players and still dominated the game. But still, we need to improve."

The Mumbai coach will be without Ahmed Jahouh, arguably his most influential player, on his return to his former stomping ground, but believes his team can compensate for that. “As a coach, I have good players and I am not scared of missing some of them,” Lobera said.

Earlier All India Football Federation (AIFF) Disciplinary Committee upon reviewing the direct red card incident involving Ahmed Jahouh in match against NEUFC s cautioned the player with a warning that in event of any repetition of such act, exemplary sanctions might be imposed .

The committee deemed Jahouh’s first-half reckless tackle on Khassa Camara, a serious foul play offence, endangering the safety of the opponent on field, after the video footage of the incident was sent for review.

While Jahouh has been let off without any further disciplinary action for the time being, he will serve an automatic 1-game suspension following his sending-off on Saturday.