Mumbai City FC, on Thursday, announced that they have parted ways with manager Jorge Costa, ending the Portuguese’s two-year tenure at the club.
Costa, who joined Mumbai City FC in August 2018, guided the team to a third-place finish in his debut Indian Super League season, but failed to go beyond the semi-finals, losing 5-2 on aggregate to FC Goa. This season, the Islanders got off to a winning start, beating Kerala Blasters in their opening game, but failed to keep the momentum. After a six-game winless run early in the campaign, Mumbai bounced back to beat the defending champions, Bengaluru FC, Jamshedpur FC and Hyderabad FC, but subsequent defeats against ATK and Odisha FC put their playoff berth in jeopardy.
Mumbai City FC have today parted company with Head Coach Jorge Costa.#TheIslanders would like to thank Jorge for his contribution to the Club and wish him the best for the future.
— Mumbai City FC (@MumbaiCityFC) March 5, 2020
Club statement: https://t.co/ok0b7Dw29P#ObrigadoJorge #ApunKaTeam 🔵 pic.twitter.com/EPVrjPIhOY
The race to acquire the final spot in the semi-finals went all the way to the final league stage game when Mumbai squared off against Chennaiyin FC. A narrow 1-0 defeat at home, however, ended their campaign on fifth.
Costa’s contract was due to expire at the end of the season, but the Mumbai City hierarchy decided not to extend it further. Speaking about it, CEO Indranil Das Blah said: "We’d like to thank Jorge sincerely for his immense contribution to the club during his two seasons with us, including a memorable run to the playoffs in his first season. Everyone at the club wishes Jorge well for the future."
The team also confirmed that assistant coaches Marco Leite and Pedro Miguel Correia will also leave the club alongside Costa.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @MumbaiCityFC
