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

Mumbai City FC ended the last remaining unbeaten record in ISL 2018-19, as they beat Bengaluru FC 1-0 on Sunday at the Mumbai Football Arena.

A first-half goal from Paulo Machado was enough for the Islanders against a Bengaluru side who looked sub-par.

In both teams' first game back since the winter break, Mumbai drove forward with purpose and defended astutely against a Bengaluru side, who were decidedly second-best in all areas of the pitch, with the injuries that have ravaged their squad having taken a toll on Carles Cuadrat's side.

Here are 5 big points of discussion from the game.

#5 Bengaluru need Miku back ASAP

Without their Venezuelan hitman, Bengaluru lost their first game in seven, but the continually deteriorating performance levels had been a feature even before the break.

Without Miku, Bengaluru's attack lacks a focal point and also a consistent threat to the opposition rearguard.

Neither Sunil Chhetri nor Chencho Gyeltshen are different types of players, who don't really provide the focal point.

For Chhetri to thrive, he needs someone to take the pressure off him by playing the central striker's role. Chhetri has shown throughout his career that his best performances come when he's playing as the supporting striker or from the left wing.

With Chencho as well, his best position is not as a central striker. So, on Sunday, Cuadrat tried something new with Xisco Hernandez taking over the role of the central striker.

The Spaniard started promisingly but waned as the game went on, as Lucian Goian and Anwar Ali stood tall at the back for Mumbai.

Bengaluru also lacked some imagination in their creative play, which is another area where Miku's absence hurt them.

This season, in the five games he played before his injury, Miku dropped deep very often, creating the space for Udanta Singh and Chhetri to run into, while also pinging passes to them.

The Venezuelan's ability to conjure a chance out of seemingly nothing is being desperately missed by Cuadrat, and with him back in light training already, Bengaluru will be having fingers crossed to have their hitman back with them, as we reach the business end of the season.

#4 Mumbai's defence holds firm - AGAIN

Lucian Goian - proudly belting out Jana Gana Mana and all - has been a massive influence on this Mumbai City FC season.

With three Indians around him in the rearguard, Goian has been the leader, and the man to knit everything together. And boy, has he knitted everything together!

On Sunday, in the second half, Bengaluru decided that they'd rather go long and direct, rather than building play up through midfield.

Against the likes of Goian and Anwar Ali, with smaller men like Chhetri and Udanta on the receiving end of most of those passes, that was always going to be one that met with failure.

Anwar, in particular, deserves a massive amount of credit for his performance last night. One of Bengaluru's big weapons has always been the early release from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu towards Udanta on the right wing. Anwar was always in position to make the interception from that kind of ball.

Mumbai's desire to keep the clean sheet and defend well was exemplified by Goian in the second half, when a Sunil Chhetri half-chance came to nothing.

The Romanian absolutely lost it at Souvik Chakraborty, after the right-back had not kept track of Chhetri's movement in the box.

Although some might say that scuffling between two players of the same team isn't exactly the most pleasant sight to watch, it is also a sign that there are leaders in this Mumbai side, and that they are an incredibly difficult team to score against.

#3 Mumbai's counter-attacking prowess comes to the fore again

Modou Sougou was a constant threat to the Bengaluru defence — Modou Sougou was a constant threat to the Bengaluru

Paulo Machado's goal was the Islanders' ninth goal from a counter-attack this season. When you look through their side, it is easy to see why they are so good on the break.

The pace of Modou Sougou and Arnold Issoko, the ability of Machado and Rafael Bastos to pick a pass is complemented by their ability to defend stoutly at the back.

The goal Machado scored was a thing of beauty. After a Bengaluru corner was cleared away from danger towards Bastos, Bengaluru were always going to be on the back-foot.

Once Bastos received the ball and drove forward with it, five other blues shirts were busting a gut to keep pace with him.

The release from Bastos towards Machado was perfectly timed, and from there on, it was all about the Mumbai skipper's intelligence and class on the ball.

With Issoko keeping him company on the left, Machado had a look towards his left while driving forward, then a look towards Gurpreet's bottom left corner, before slotting it to the goalkeeper's right.

It was the kind of goal that you'd never tire of seeing unless you're of a Bengaluru persuasion.

Sougou and Issoko, too, were constantly testing the last line of the Bengaluru defence, by playing right on the shoulder of the last man. While Sougou was caught offside six times, the one time he timed his run right, he forced Gurpreet into a superb save.

While Bengaluru's offside trap must be given credit, Mumbai's plan to gamble on making the runs off the shoulder of the last man was perfect, given that Bengaluru aren't exactly blessed with the quickest of players in defence.

#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.

#1 The ISL has to wait longer for its own Invincibles

Sunil Chhetri hasn't scored in six ISL games now.

Bengaluru, throughout their first 11 games of the season, weren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But, they were doing just enough to get the job done, and were showing immense spirit late in games, to win them points.

The Blues have won nine of their 27 points this season, with goals after the 75th minute. Those late moments of games have seen Bengaluru score six of their 18 goals.

The Blues, though, do realise that their performance levels must be higher as we enter the business end of the season. Their big players need to step up soon, though.

Sunil Chhetri has not scored in six ISL games now. Dimas Delgado's performances have waned, his set-piece deliveries on Sunday were shocking.

Juanan and Albert Serran have looked less secure at the back, with Bengaluru's high defensive line being exploited far more frequently than it was in the initial phase of the season.

With a tough test coming up against NorthEast United in just three days, Bengaluru need to lift - both performances and spirit.

Edited by Alan John