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The ten men of Bengaluru FC have ripped up the form book. They've scoffed at FC Goa's five clean sheets in a row, and in 24 second-half minutes, Naveen Kumar has had to pick the ball up from his net on three occasions.
But that didn't define Bengaluru FC v FC Goa. There was one moment - a singular instance which, in the larger context of the game, was of scant significance. Yet, it was the moment that everyone watching would pinpoint at the end and say, yeah, Goa were tired.
Maybe, they still had plenty left in the tank, physically. But, mentally, they'd had enough. Bengaluru's Venezuelan Hitman had just taken off on another mazy right-wing run. Goa's Spanish centre-back decided enough was enough.
Carlos Pena tugged Miku unceremoniously by the shirt, and as it had inexplicably done on a few other occasions on the night, Pranjal Banerjee's yellow card was being waved - no questions asked this time, though.
Try hard as they may, though, Goa were not stopping Miku in that second half. He was a man possessed, doing what he's done best in the Bengaluru blue - tormenting opposition defenders. With the silkiness of his touch and the intelligence of his movement and passing, he wears defenders down to submission.
In this second half, he needed to. Bengaluru were heading into this one with one win in their last five games. The defence, so reliable in the first phase of the season, was showing alarming porosity - 7 goals conceded in their last three games, against them teams 8th, 9th and 10th on the ISL Table. That Carles Cuadrat would've been worried with the Goan juggernaut hitting the Kanteerava turf, would be to put it mildly.
Ahmed Jahouh served a warning shot in the opening exchanges, as he had a jittery Gurpreet Singh Sandhu beaten in the opening exchanges, only to see his shot from distance whistle back off the upright.
Goa were creating chances - Jackichand Singh and Brandon Fernandes were troubling Nishu Kumar and Rino Anto every time they got forward. And then, the moment that turned the game happened.
Nobody yet knows clearly what was going through referee Banerjee's mind when he waved a second yellow card in Nishu's direction, but Bengaluru had 48 more minutes to play, and one man less, to play with.
In the second half, Bengaluru came out a different side, though. And their Venezuelan gem had plenty to do with the different Bengaluru in that second half.
Cuadrat decided to set Bengaluru up in two banks of four, leaving Miku alone up top. The Spanish head coach must have banked on Miku's ability to make things happen on his own. It is safe to say that the trust was repaid in kind.
The Blues defended deep, shut the space between the defence and the midfield, and when they won the ball back, they looked to hit their talisman at every opportunity they had, and Miku obliged.
He tormented Mourtada Fall, Pena and Lenny Rodrigues. And yet, it was a moment where his control deserted him that set Bengaluru on their way. In that position, there was no way Miku was letting Xisco Hernandez's cross run through to Juanan. Yet, the ball just grazed his foot, before falling to the Spaniard on his stomach and then sat up nicely for him to put Bengaluru in the lead.
The second and third goals, though, were Miku in all his glory. The utter contrast between the two was really the best tribute there can be to his ability and the plethora of different things he brings to this Bengaluru side.
After Juanan had won the ball back, Miku was on the centre circle receiving a pass, and promptly laying it off to Dimas Delgado. The Spaniard in Bengaluru's midfield is a work of art himself. That lobbed pass for Udanta Singh to run onto was sublime - the vision first, then the technique to be able to play the pass, and the perfect weight on it, precision!
And then, Miku's crowning moment on the night. Lenny was too tight on his back, and he was turned in an instant. Miku does that in his sleep, it's just become second nature to him, and it's not the last time we'll see him turn defenders like that. And then, when he was running at Pena, what does the defender do?
Do you get too tight to him and risk being dribbled past? Do you just stand off him and wait for him to make a mistake? Damned if you do, damned if you don't!
From just about 30 yards out, Miku unleashed a swerving strike that ended up leaving Naveen Kumar grasping at thin air. The Venezuelan had finally broken his goal drought, and the West Block was going mad! The Beatles were invoked, too, as the Bengaluru faithful just could not get enough of their Hitman.
Pena did love one thing from last night though - the blue shirt with no.7 on the back. Even before the incident that led to him being booked, he might have conceded a penalty for having a hold of Miku's jersey inside the Goan box, it was inexplicable that the referee couldn't spot half of Miku's bare back in that instance.
In the end though, as much as the referee might have been the cynosure of all eyes for another abject showing from him, the ten men ensured that the talk of the town would be their character, their fight and their victory which confirms another first-place finish in the ISL League stages for Bengaluru.
One of the ten men was Nicolas Ladislao Fedor Flores. When he's on his game, you don't want to be coming up against him, if you're a defender. All potential semifinal opponents have been warned significantly after last night.
Miku is back. When he plays like that, he really is worth two players on the pitch. Maybe that's why Bengaluru were never really down to ten men last night.
Also see: ISL Schedule | ISL Results | ISL Points table
