ISL: A must win encounter for both Mumbai City FC and FC Pune City

Both Mumbai City FC and FC Pune City will be looking at tonight’s encounter as a must win game

Confidence has never been a scarce commodity for both Mumbai City FC and FC Pune City but goals have been a different story. Both coaches, Pune’s Franco Colomba and Mumbai’s Peter Reid, have lamented over the inability of their respective players in converting chances into goals. Not surprisingly then, both teams find themselves at the bottom of the table after some inspiring starts to their campaign in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL).

However, both sides are still in with a chance at qualification for a top-4 spot. As Colomba rightly said prior to Pune’s match against Atletico de Kolkata, “There is a two-point difference (between Pune and the third and fourth placed teams) and anything is possible, but to win is more important.” Pune has to first get over the psychological disadvantage of their 5-0 mauling at the hands of Mumbai in their first meeting. That was also the match which saw the first hat-trick of the ISL by Brazilian Andre Moritz.

Much has happened since; the team has steadied itself, beating Atletico de Kolkata away and holding them to a draw in Pune. The second of those games saw the fire power of Greek World Cupper Kostas Katsouranis and Hungarian Krisztian Vadocz. The latter looks good for some goals. As he himself said, “I think some of them were missed chances. If I keep going like this, then maybe I can score in the next match! This is my aim and I also hope to get the three points,” the Hungarian said.

Add to that the presence of Dudu Omagbemi and Jermaine Pennant, the experienced English player, and the Pune side has the wherewithal to deliver. There is reason in Colomba being optimistic. On the other hand, Mumbai had a nasty 1-4 loss against Delhi Dynamos where nothing went right.

As the only scorer of Mumbai in that heavy defeat, Abhishek Yadav put it, “The team as a whole failed.” As Yadav explained, the Mumbai team had the better of exchanges and tries at the rival end. But things turned around dramatically and the slip turned into a slide in no time.

Coach Peter Reid’s worry on the eve of the crucial tie will be to prevent a repeat of that rout. He knows he has the right men in each area. “I think we’ve got a realistic chance, that’s all we can hope for. We’re just going to focus on Pune,” the coach said.