Atletico de Kolkata succumbed to their first defeat in the Indian Super League this season, courtesy of a late Diego Forlan goal. The Mumbai City FC striker deftly finished a low cross from Sony Norde, as the hapless Kolkata goalkeeper could only watch the ball flying past him into the back of the net.
France and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry was seated in the stands to watch the game, but even his presence couldn’t bring out the attacking flair in the teams, who both laid far more emphasis on defence . However, we did thankfully find a goal in the end, much to the relief of all those seeing the match
Here are the 5 talking points from the game:
#1 Atletico desperately need Postiga back
ATK’s marquee player Helder Postiga had missed three matches prior to this one, and although he was on the bench for this clash, the Portuguese was not bought on the pitch. The former Tottenham striker had picked up an innocuous knock on the ribs, and his absence has hurt the team.
Without a fulcrum point in attack, most of ATK’s forward play looked disjointed and repeatedly broke down in the final third yesterday. Jose Molina, the coach will be hoping his marquee player can get fit in time for the next match, despite Iain Hume’s best efforts, he does not look like someone who can lead the line from the front.
Yesterday was the first time his team failed to score a goal this season, and it is indeed alarming to know that they have scored only 4 goals in the last 5 matches now. A traditional no 9 like Postiga could really come very handy now.
#2 Sony Norde and Cafu combined very well
Mumbai City FC’s left wing caused a lot of trouble to the Kolkata defence and it was largely down to the excellent combination of their wingback Cafu and their forward Sony Norde. These two linked up extremely well, and it was down this wing that Mumbai’s goal eventually came from.
Cafu, in particular, had an exceedingly good game, as he joined in attack every time his team went forward and made all the way back to help out his defence when the ball was lost.
Norde already has a huge reputation in India thanks to his exploits with Mohun Bagan, and yesterday the Haitian justified once again as to why he was called up to participate in the Copa America Centenario for his national team. He never gave up, kept pushing the Atletico right back Prabir Das and eventually put in a low cross in the 80th minute from which Forlan scored the winning goal.
#3 Diego Forlan is slowly starting to show his true class
Diego Forlan has faced criticism for scoring just one goal in the league so far, but Mumbai’s marquee player showed yesterday why he continues to be such an integral part of their squad. He started out as a sole forward in a 3-4-2-1 formation but dropped repeatedly in midfield to allow Norde and Vadocz to run at the defenders.
The no. 10 was being tightly marked by Borja Fernandez, but he still found time and space to make some good passes to his wingers. It was he, who eventually scored the winner from a superb Norde cross.
It was a testament to his patience, positioning sense and calmness, and one hopes that he can continue putting up such eye-catching performances for the men in blue from now on.
#4 Tiri and Doutie were outstanding once again
Jose Arronyo, or Tiri as he is fondly called, was the rock at the heart of the ATK defence once again. He partnered with Arnab Mondal extremely well and managed to cover both Norde and Vadocz whenever they threatened.
Infact, he also ended up making some brilliant last ditch tackles which helped his team stay in the game. When on the ball, Tiri was impeccable as well, as he bought it out from defence, and played it out to Sameehg Doutie or Abinas Ruidas or numerous occasions. While Abinas couldn’t do much with the ball, Doutie repeatedly got behind his marker and put in good service in the box.
If ATK are to make it to the playoffs, they need someone to do justice to the passes the tricky South African winger makes.
#5 This ISL season will be very tight
With just 7 points separating the bottom team i.e. FC Goa from the table toppers i.e Mumbai City FC, this ISL season will be a tightly contested affair. With just 44 goals scored so far in the campaign as compared to the 56 netted at the same point last season, most games have been cagey and tightly contested.
Defences have been hard to unlock and there has been a lack of cutting edge upfront, and that was evident even yesterday.
Both sets of defenders were very good yesterday, and Lucian Goian, the Mumbai FC defender, ended up with the Hero Of The Match award for his excellent show. Not something that the fans would like, but it sure makes for an interesting tactical watch
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