ISL: Mumbai City FC 0-2 NorthEast United FC - 5 talking points

NorthEast United FC edged past Mumbai City FC 2-0 to collect crucial three points in an away game. Kondwani Mtonga and Felipe de Castro's strikes in the second half ensured NorthEast's first victory in Indian Super League away from home.While Mumbai dominated the attack by creating more chances, NorthEast United did the right things at the right time to claim victory. The win takes NorthEast United to second position with 7 points from 4 games while Mumbai City remains fourth with 3 points from as many games. We take a look at the five major talking points of the match.

#5 Match officials\' blunder leads to just 10 Mumbai FC players starting the second half

Freddie Ljungberg with the match officials

Mumbai City FC manager Peter Reid decided to field marquee signing Freddie Ljungberg from the beginning of the second half. As per the rule, Ljungberg stood at the touchline before kick-off in the second half.

To everyone’s surprise, the fourth official was not ready with the required formalities and the referee blew the whistle indicating kick-off. Thus, for at least 30 seconds or so, Mumbai played with 10 men on the field.

Later the fourth official came and indicated the substitution and Ljungberg joined the show. This was surely an embarrassing moment; nowhere has anybody seen such a bizarre situation in a football match.

#4 Mumbai City FC\'s attack force improving but were inconsistent

Mumbai City FC’s attacking unit is improving match by match. After a dismal show in Kolkata in their ISL opener, Mumbai came back strongly thumping neighbours FC Pune City 5-0. The team faltered again losing to NorthEast United FC.

Andre Moritz, who scored a hat-trick in the previous game, failed to deliver today. Another star performer for Mumbai City FC has been Larindika Ralte who never fails to entertain us with his amazing skills on the ball and his good game sense. But he too underperformed today leading to his team’s downfall.

Indian striker Subhash Singh, who scored in last match, lacked imagination today. He was clueless half the time and did not meet the coach’s expectation. Mumbai has an enviable attacking unit. And with Nicolas Anelka’s emergence, it will become one of the most desirable teams in the ISL. But they need to be consistent in order to get success.

#3 NorthEast United\'s moves lacked imagination

It is safe to say that, even though NorthEast United FC bagged all three points, Mumbai City FC were more dominant in the game. They created more chances and they dominated ball possession.

On the other hand, NorthEast United FC mostly struggled in midfield, Koke being the only exception. Hard working midfielder Isaac Chansa’s injury in the early stages of the match was also a reason they failed to keep ball possession in midfield.

The Indian players had practically no idea of what was going on and they were running aimlessly. South Korean midfielder, Do Dong Hyun supported Koke well, but he too was clueless in front of the goal post.

Other than Koke, Kondwani Mtonga was the only notable midfielder who had an impact on today’s game. The Zambian also scored the first goal from Koke’s impeccable through ball.

#2 Freddie Ljungberg\'s fitness concern

Freddie Ljungberg receives treatment

Mumbai City FC’s marquee player Freddie Ljungberg is having a tough time in the Hero Indian Super League. From the very first match, Ljungberg has been facing fitness issues.

He did not feature in Mumbai City FC’s ISL opener against Atletico de Kolkata due to a hamstring injury. He recovered before the second game but did not play the entire 90 minutes. He was introduced into the game by Peter Reid in the latter stages of the second half.

In today’s match too, Reid opted to ignore Ljungberg when picking the starting XI. The legendary winger was brought in in the second half, but he did not survive till the end. During the 75-minute mark, Ljungberg limped out of the ground with a hamstring injury reducing the Mumbai team to 10 men.

Ljungberg is suffering many injuries in the early stages of the tournament, which is a bad news for Mumbai City FC. Peter Reid needs to reconstruct his strategies, and will possibly have to keep the ageing legend out of his plans.

#1 Overdependence on Koke

The success of NorthEast United FC is heavily dependent on Sergio Pardo or Koke. The Spanish attacking midfielder has also scored the lion’s share of goals in the teams total goals’ tally – 2 out of 3.

In every match, we see that almost every move of NorthEast is generated by Koke. The only match which they lost at home against Atletico de Kolkata, Koke played as a striker with James Keene. Hardly any chances were created in that game, thus exposing the vulnerability of NorthEast’s midfielders.

While Isaac Chansa is hardworking, he is not good enough to create quality moves. None of the Indian players have lived up to expectations, leaving Koke with the entire responsibility. The day Koke gets injured or misses a particular match, the John Abraham owned franchise will face serious problems.