On match day 3 of the Indian Super League, FC Pune City took on Mumbai City FC at the Balewadi stadium in Pune. The Maharashtrian derby has always been a feisty affair, and the last one at this venue ended in a 3-1 victory to the team from Pune. However, this time around Mumbai City FC got sweet revenge, as they beat their state rivals 1-0, thanks to a superbly taken Mathias Defederico goal.
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The game was a tightly contested affair, with both teams seizing the initiatives at different intervals, but in the end, the men in white triumphed and sealed only the 2nd away win in their ISL history.
Here are the 5 things we learned from the game:
#1 Habas should have made better use of Bruno Arias
Every good team requires a midfielder who can step up and control the game, pick passes and unlock defences. If you have someone who has this skill set, then you have to make sure he gets involved while your team is attacking. FC Pune City started off with a 4-2-3-1 formation but kept switching to a more fluid 4-1-4-1 system several times during the match.
What was puzzling, however, was to discover that Lenny Rodriguez was pushed forward, and not Bruno. The Pune City captain was at the heart of every move they made, especially in the first half, so one thought it would be natural to see him in a more advanced role, dictating the play and troubling the Mumbai defence. However, the very experienced Antonio Habas obviously did not see it this way, which was really very surprising.
#2 Diego Forlan was off colour
Before the game, a lot of newsprints was written over how the famed Forlan might impact the game. To be honest, the former Manchester United man did not affect the proceedings a lot, save for a deft touch to Defrederico which helped to set up the winning goal. He started off as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 system but was soon joined by Defrederico on the left and Leo Costa on the right to turn it into a very flexible 4-3-3 formation.
The Uruguayan dropped deep repeatedly to get the ball after he failed to receive proper service from his wingers, but he didn’t make pose much of a threat. One hopes that he can settle in as the tournament goes on, and make a more telling contribution to Mumbai’s attack.
#3 Tato needed help upfront
If you are playing a lone striker upfront, you need him to be physically commanding so that defenders can’t bully him out of the equation. In Tato, Pune City had a striker who has speed and agility but didn’t have the muscles to compete and hence, got pushed around every time a long ball was fed to him. His incapability to hold up play and let the wingers come into play affected his team’s ability to stitch together a proper attacking move, many a time.
Habas could and probably should have utilised him in a no. 10 role, or should have put another striker up alongside him. Although he is good with the ball at his feet and created a few chances, it would be surprising to see Tato being operated all alone up front, especially if Sissoko is available for the next match.
#4 Mumbai have great options down the left wing
In Defederico and Jackichand Singh, Mumbai have two wingers who love to take on defenders, push defences and score goals. This point was on show today, as the Argentine, who has 2 caps for his national team, was a handful for Pune’s defence. He repeatedly cut in and put in crosses, and kept dragging his markers all over the pitch. In the end, his efforts were rewarded as he scored a stunning piledriver.
The goal won the Ranbir Kapoor owned franchise the match, and him the man of the match award. Jackichand Singh came on for him in the dying minutes of the game, but he continued from where Defederico left off, by cutting open the Pune defence and almost scoring a 2nd goal in stoppage time.
And we haven’t even seen Sony Norde in action. If Mumbai do make it to the playoffs this time, these players will have to make a huge contribution to the cause.
#5 Pune defence and midfield needs to tighten up
Another area of concern for Antonio Habas would be the room Pune’s defence allowed to Defederico before he got his shot off. The goal came against the run of play, and it happened because the home team’s defence kept moving down instead of closing down the space the Argentinian had. In fact, several times during the course of the game, Pune’s defence just switched off which gave the Mumbai players more time and room to pick a pass or a cross.
If not for Gouramangi’s heroics, they could have easily lost the game with a much bigger margin. Also, the lack of a proper leader in the squad was visible, as despite dominating for a length of time, many of Pune’s attacks broke down in the final third. The former Atletico de Kolkata coach needs to find a commanding footballer who can hold his squad together from the back and lead by example.
