ISL 2018-19: ATK 1-3 Mumbai City FC – 5 talking points as Sougou’s hat-trick sends Mumbai into knock-outs

Mumbai City FC, coming after hattrick of losses which almost derailed their campaign, finally booked their place in the knock-outs with a brilliant 3-1 win against ATK at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Friday.

Senegalese striker Modou Sougou, who has been in a brilliant form this season, scored a scintillating hat-trick, his second of the tournament, to end all hopes for the home side. ATK got a consolation goal from Andre Bikey but that was far from enough to keep them alive in the tournament.

Mumbai City, with 30 points from 17 matches, will face FC Pune City in the Maharashtra Derby in their next match. ATK, who have 21 points from 17 matches, will host Delhi Dynamos in their last match which will turn out to be a formality for both the teams.

With his hattrick, Sougou took his tally to 12 goals to move to third position, only behind Ferran Corominas of FC Goa and Bartholomew Ogbeche of NorthEast United FC.

Let us look at the talking points of the game.

#5 Coppell’s gamble to play Kalu Uche failed completely

Before facing Mumbai City FC, ATK coach Steve Coppell said the team management made certain plan before the start of the season keeping Kalu Uche in mind. However, the move didn’t pay off as Uche never came close to his best which he was in the last season. Contrasting to the 13 goals that he scored last edition for Delhi Dynamos, Uche has only one goal this season out of 10 matches.

On Friday, he looked like an ordinary player who just learned to play is yet to know the basics of the game. He was too sloppy to play in the role of a striker. There wasn’t any understanding between him and other teammates, especially with Edu Garcia. The Spaniard at least twice provided good balls to Uche but in both time the Nigerian was out of position.

With Manuel Lanzarote injured, Coppell had no other option except fielding Uche. In the second half, the Nigerian missed two excellent sitters, much to the disbelief of British coach. The striker has only shot on target to his name.

#4 Mumbai need to be more strong defensively

Mumbai City have kept six clean sheets this season, a record that the players and the coach must be proud of. On the contrary, they lost their last three matches without scoring a goal, which put a question mark on their chances of qualification. Against ATK, they got a softer opponent and ticked all the boxes.

Lucian Goian, who missed the last match due to suspension, was back in defence and as usual he took all the responsibilities in the back front. He neutralised the threat posed by Kalu Uche and Edu Garcia. Even at 36 years of age, he made quick interceptions and clearances. He was always there to neutralise ATK’s move. The only time which he failed to clear the cross led to ATK’s only goal of the match.

But his partner, Souvik Chakrabarti had a horrific day. The Bengal-born made a couple of dreadful mistakes and was lucky not to concede a goal. He never looked confident in the field and earned an unnecessary yellow card, which will rule him out in the next match. In order to reach their maiden final, Mumbai need to consolidate their defence as soon as possible.

#3 ATK badly missed Johnson in defence

John Johnson, who keeps the defence in shape, was suspended for this crucial due to the fourth yellow card that he picked in the earlier match. In his absence, ATK defenders had a difficult task to cut out. But they failed miserably.

Andre Bikey, who hasn’t found much game time this season, replace Johnson in the heart of the defence. He was awful with his responsibilities. Honestly, all the goals that ATK conceded would have been averted if ATK defenders were more cautious in the approach. But they left Moudou Sougou unmarked at least twice. Sougou and Arnold Sissoko had no problem in toying with ATK defenders throughout the match.

Arnab Mondal has been playing for the last few matches, but he struggled to confront Sougou. If he had marked Sougou properly, the Senegalese would not have scored the 2nd goal. Right back Pritam Kotal also looked off-colour as his trademark crosses were missing against Mumbai.

#2 Night of missed chances for ATK

In football, the scoreline doesn’t always tell the truth. The hard work that certain players deliver on the field doesn’t count every time. Sometimes, the second-best teams win games. That is what happened with ATK against Mumbai City.

Coming after back-to-back three losses, Mumbai didn’t have the right shape and were low on confidence. ATK could’ve killed the game so easily if they made their chances count. Sadly, it didn’t happen. ATK had 60 per cent ball possession, made more passes than their opponent, had more shots on target. Yet, they came short in terms of scoring the goals.

Uche missed two sitters which could’ve been easily converted. Garcia got one free-kick just on the edge of the box. He shot it straight to the wall. Jayesh Rane too had scoring opportunities. Credit goes to Amrinder for saving Mumbai City at least twice with his brilliant saves.

#1 Sougou brilliance leads Mumbai to knock-outs

Mumbai had not scored in their previous three matches, mainly due to the ineffectiveness of their striker Moudou Sougou, who made headlines with his four goals against Kerala Blasters couple of months back. His goal-scoring run suddenly came to a halt. The Senegalese made amends against ATK. He became the fourth player in the tournament to score two hat-tricks in the same edition.

He has developed a beautiful understanding with Arnold Sissoko. Sougou has a good sense of positioning. He reaches at the right place on the right time. Sissoko knows where his partner is and where he loves to get the ball. The understanding between them is reaping rich dividends this season.

A striker needs to keep his calm when he enters the box with the ball on his feet. The first and third goal of Sougou was a perfect example of how to keep the calmness before scoring a goal. With the opponent defenders hounding from his back and a goalkeeper rushing towards him with stretched hand, you need to put the ball in the right place. Sougou did just that, as his heroics finally paid off in the most crucial match for Mumbai.