ISL 2015: Atletico de Kolkata 4-1 Pune City - 5 Talking Points

Canadian striker Iain Hume gave Atletico de Kolkata fans a great weekend present with three good goals, as the hosts romped home to a 4-1 win over FC Pune City at the Salt Lake Stadium. In the process, they also became the first team in this edition of the Hero Indian Super League to book their place in the semi-finals. Judging by the way Pune City have been struggling in their away matches, things look bleak for the David Platt-coached side who have just two matches remaining in the second edition to salvage a top-four spot. Here are the major talking points from the game.All images courtesy of ISL

#1 Iain Hume - Man of the match

One would debate if the first goal scored by the Scotland-born striker was legitimate when he was offside when the pass was made to his teammate, but that was quickly forgotten as the agile forward was a real threat to the Pune side throughout the match and scored two more goals.

Hume the smiling assassin, as he could be termed, was all over the Pune defence, and his ability to beat the defence with his clever body movement and anticipation was a treat for the 42,000 spectators at the stadium.

He teased the defenders with his movement and left his rivals in two minds, taking advantage of their indecisiveness as he grabbed another hat-trick this season. The Canadian striker was deservedly chosen as the Man of the Match for the hat-trick as he helped Atletico seal their place in the semi-finals.

#2 Early goal gave Atletico the advantage

Although the first goal saw Hume offside when the pass was made, he was onside when he received the final pass. However, considering the timing of the goal, it helped the hosts take an early lead and put Pune City on the back foot as early as the 9th minute, demoralizing them.

By the end, though, Pune definitely did not do enough to deserve anything from the game. They performed nothing close to their best, especially their defenders, who could not recover from the early goal they conceded.

#3 Pune City\'s defence needs work

Though the Pune goalkeeper on the day, Arindam Bhattacharya, did come up with his best, the defensive lapses in front of him put him in a helpless situation for all the goals conceded by his side.

The positioning of the defenders was awful throughout the match, and they failed to track the movement of Kolkata's attacking players. Sameehg Doutie, Jaime Gavilan and Arata Izumi were given a lot of time to make the right pass.

Of all the Pune City defenders, only Ravanan looked good and organised at the start. But he too could not maintain the same as the match progressed.

#4 Adrian Mutu\'s goal couldn\'t hide Pune City\'s bad finishing

Romanian forward Adrian Mutu was menacing up front, and Pune City's consolation goal came through his brilliant solo effort when he dribbled past the Atletico defence and finished with aplomb. However, that was the only moment of success for the Pune team as they couldn't score from any of the other opportunities they had throughout the match.

What didn't help Pune City was the fact that they hit the post thrice during the game. Considering the situation the game was in, each of those occasions could have potentially turned the game on its head.

The fact that it didn't work out for them left them ruing their luck on the day.

#5 Pune City\'s trusted Indian contingent fail to deliver

Indians Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Lenny Rodrigues, Manish and Ravanan, who were trusted soldiers of David Platt, failed to prove their mettle, which made things difficult for the Pune side.

Lenny has been one of the mainstays of the side but had a bad game as he could not find the right person in the right place on many occasions. Ravanan's efforts in defence this season have been admirable, but he couldn't pull together the defence in this match.

Manish Maithani made some forward surges from right-back but was at fault for one of the goals and couldn't really contribute anything positive. The team's main playmaker Eugeneson Lyngdoh too was off-colour and is now suspended for the next match after collecting his fourth yellow card.