ISL 2018-19: FC Pune City vs Chennaiyin FC - 5 Talking Points

The defending champions, Chennaiyin FC beat FC Pune City 4-2 with skipper Mailson starring for John Gregory's side as he scored the first goal and assisted the second goal with a 70-yard pass.

Chennaiyin have scored 80% of their goals in the first half but surprised Pune with 4 quick goals in the second half as they completed the comeback and got their first win of the season. As a result, the Chennai based side moved off the bottom of the table and climbed to eighth place in the league table.

Let's take a look at the five talking points from the game:

---

#5 Robin Singh, the only hope of Pune City FC

Robin Singh provided the assist for FC Pune City's only goal

Robin Singh is a man reborn this season. After scoring only one goal in the last season with ATK, Robin has already assisted two goals in this season, which started only a month ago.

Ashique Kuruniyan was at the end of one of the best passes of the season and the 21-year old slotted the ball between the legs of the goalkeeper, passing two more defenders as it found the back of the net. Singh delivered a lobbed pass from the other half, which travelled 50 yards before finding the left winger just outside the six-yard box.

Apart from the attacking contribution, he was excellent in tracking back as he nullified Jerry Lalrinzuala's attacking threat before being substituted in the 57th minute.

---

#4 Karanjit Singh should be dropped

Karanjit Singh

Chennaiyin FC have conceded the second most number of goals in the league. Karanljit Singh helped the club win the Indian Super League title last year but has been a shadow of his former self this season.

He was at fault for the first goal as he first failed to sweep up a 50-yard pass and then allowed Kuruniyan to slot the ball in the back of the net between his legs. The 32-year old has played every minute in the league this season with Sanjban Ghosh and NIkhil Bernard waiting in the wings but failed to justify his place in the team once more.

---

#3 Chennaiyin FC missing Dhanpal Ganesh

Dhanpal Ganesh

Chennaiyin had the majority of the possession in the first half (65%) but still failed to score a goal. Anirudh Thapa and Germanpreet Singh were expected to run the midfield in the absence of the industrious Dhanpal Ganesh but have not been effective enough.

Thapa and Singh's combination have proved to be too slow for the Indian Super League as seen in the match against Pune City FC, the ninth-ranked team in the league before the start of the match. Chennaiyin failed to break time and again in the first half due to the lack of pace in their midfield duo.

---

#4 Rebirth for Chennaiyin FC's Mailson Alves

Mailson Alves celebrates after scoring for Chennaiyin FC

Mailson Alves has endured a disappointing month with Chennaiyin FC. Not only did the team fail to clinch a point in the first month of the ISL, the Brazilian too was relegated to the bench for the last couple of games.

Gregory finally handed Mailson a start, his first after the opener against Bengaluru FC, and the defender showed why he deserves to start every Chennaiyin FC game. Mailson struck off a header to equalise for CFC and then provided an assist for another goal to help Chennaiyin FC win their first game of the season.

Mailson was in tears after scoring the goal, which goes to show how important that goal was for him.

---

#5 Marcelinho frustrated with lack of goals

Marcelinho

Marcelinho has scored only one goal in the 18-19 season. After being part of 15 goals (8 goals, 7 assists) in the 2017-18 season, the Brazilian has been enduring a poor run of form. He single-handedly kept out Emiliano Alfaro out of the side.

But a dry patch saw Marcelinho frustrated and he took out his frustration on an opposition player as he went in with a horrendous two-footed challenge on Germanpreet Singh, which saw the referee brand out a straight red card.

Would like to apologize German Singh(hope he is ok) for my tackle and all my team for this challenge.My responsability and my mistake.Sorry !

— Marcelo Leite (@marcelinholeite) November 6, 2018

Now, the forward misses Pune's next three matches with a ban as per the protocol of the league.