ISL 2018-19, Mumbai City FC 1-0 Bengaluru FC: 5 Talking Points

#2 Injuries continue to hinder Bengaluru

Cuadrat has problems with a squad depleted by injuries to key players

While Cuadrat will not (and should not) use it as an excuse for a sub-par performance on the night, it is clear that injuries to key members of his squad aren't doing him any favours.

He is blessed to have versatile players, capable of playing multiple roles, which has ensured that he hasn't had to dive deeper into the squad and the reserves to put an XI out on the pitch.

Nishu Kumar's injury, which he picked up against ATK in December, has been serious enough to ensure that he hasn't yet returned to even light training yet.

Nishu's knee problem, together with Rino Anto's hamstring issue meant that Bengaluru were a little light on numbers in the full-back area.

That meant a switch from midfield to right-back for Harmanjot Khabra, while Rahul Bheke started as the left-back. While Bheke did reasonably well in coping with the threat of Issoko, Khabra had a game to forget.

He was getting turned inside-out by Bastos, his passing was sloppy, and his crossing was, well, awful.

Khabra has had a very good season so far for Bengaluru, but that has mostly been in central midfield, where his work-rate has complemented the on-ball nous of Dimas Delgado and the defensive stability of Erik Paartalu.

Khabra clearly looked out of his depth on Sunday, and Bengaluru need some luck to go their way with the injuries.

With Anto likely to be back on Wednesday for their next game against NorthEast United at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru will gain a little bit of respite.

Miku, too, is expected to feature at some point in the next two weeks, when Bengaluru have three more games lined up.