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FC Goa produced a stellar performance to rip Mumbai City FC apart at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa and take a major step towards booking a semi-final berth in this season’s Hero Indian Super League (ISL). FC Goa moved three points clear at the top of the table with four games to play in the league stage of the ISL.Mumbai City FC endured a night to forget as the win not just kept them two points adrift of the top four places, but also dealt a severe blow to their goal difference which could prove to be crucial come the end of the season.There were numerous talking points that the game threw up, here are the top five talking points from FC Goa’s thrashing of Mumbai City FC
#1 Hat-trick heroes Haokip and Dudu provide a lesson in finishing
FC Goa’s three-pronged attack supported by Leo Moura in midfield ran riot throughout the game as the two forwards Thongkoisep Haokip and Dudu Omagbemi netted hat-tricks in an exhibition of top-class finishing. The movement of the two players created holes in the Mumbai City FC defence which were exploited by Leo Moura and Joffre, but it was Dudu and Haokip who made the difference being at the right place at the right time.
All six goals scored by the two didn’t have anything spectacular about the finish but were trademark strikers’ goals. With FC Goa possessing so much creativity all over the field, having such predators in the box will make them very difficult to stop.
Zico will be highly encouraged by what he saw today from his strikers and would want them to keep doing more of the same in the games to come as The Gaurs look to get back to Goa for the big Final.
#2 Defensive catastrophe for Mumbai City FC
Mumbai City FC came into the game holding the second best defensive record in the Hero Indian Super League, but a shambolic performance saw them end the day with the joint worst defensive record in the league. Such was the extent of Mumbai City FC’s defensive despair in Goa. Mumbai City FC’s full backs had a night to forget as they were at fault for five of the seven goals conceded by Mumbai City FC.
Right back Ashutosh left too big a gap for Dudu to run in the build-up for the opening goal as left back Fanai repeated that mistake for Goa’s second. Kinshuk Debnath who came on for the injured Ashutosh Mehta was a mere passenger for the short time he was on the pitch and allowed players to breeze past him on several occasions, two of those occasions ending with FC Goa scoring.
Mumbai City FC were all over the place defensively and the usually stable duo of Cmovs and O’Dea were damagingly fragile. There were too many individual mistakes in the defense for Mumbai and that lead to a nightmare for Nicolas Anelka’s men.
#3 A day filled with milestones and records
It was a record-breaking performance from the FC Goa side in more ways than one as a lot of records were broken while some new ones were set. FC Goa’s 7-0 hammering of Mumbai City FC was the biggest win in the history of the competition and it came at a great time for the Goans as they all but sealed their passage to the semi-finals.
Thongkoisep Haokip’s opening goal was the 100th in the Hero ISL this season and his hat-trick was only the second instance by an Indian player after Sunil Chhetri, who showed little glimpses of that form today. There was yet another hat-trick in the game, coming from the boots of Dudu Omagbemi as it was the first ever occasion in the Hero ISL that two hat-tricks were scored in the same game.
Surprisingly, five of the six hat-tricks in the history of the Hero ISL have come in games involving Mumbai City FC and sadly for them only two have been by their players.
#4 A huge signal of intent from FC Goa
The win not just brought FC Goa the three points and a favourable position in the table, it also sounded out a warning to the rest of the League about the strength of FC Goa. Manager Zico was continuously urging his players not to drop the intensity despite being in a comfortable position in the second half and his players obeyed his words and put in a relentless show in the second half.
Usually it’s easy to concede a goal when you have such a big lead, especially against an attack of Mumbai City FC’s quality, but FC Goa were determined to keep a clean sheet and goalkeeper Kattimani made some crucial saves at critical points in the game, especially denying Nicolas Anelka seconds before the half-time whistle to keep FC Goa 2-0 up at the break.
A 2-1 scoreline would have made it a different ball game altogether and we might have seen a different game in the second half. So the solidity of FC Goa all over the pitch makes them the team to beat right now in the Hero ISL.
#5 Is Mumbai City FC too inconsistent to challenge for the ISL crown?
The 7-0 reverse will raise a lot of questions over Mumbai City FC and their credentials to mount a challenge for the ISL crown. Mumbai City FC showed little character and fight against FC Goa today as they allowed a defeat to turn into an embarrassment. Top teams don’t lose games like this and Mumbai City FC yet again were too soft against a strong opponent.
Mumbai City FC had their moments in the game but failed to capitalize on it before completely falling apart.
There have been instances in the season where Mumbai City FC have lacked a killer instinct and have been too soft. Having dished out a near perfect away performance in Delhi, they conceded late on to lose two points. Even against Atletico de Kolkata, despite coming into the game in red-hot form, they allowed the game to slip away from them.
Selim Benachour gave them hope in the second half, but their reaction to that goal was poor as they allowed Atletico to regain control of the game and shipped in two more goals. Having dominated both the games against FC Pune City and the away game in Kerala, Mumbai City could only pick up two points in the game.
So for all the attractive attacking football, Mumbai City FC haven’t shown their mettle at times and have been made to pay for that, and today’s defeat to Goa might have exposed serious shortcomings in the side.
