Mumbai City FC 0-2 ATK: 3 Reasons why the visitors won the encounter | ISL 2019-20

#1 ATK execute their game-plan to the tee

Soosairaj scored after coming on

Antonio Habas sprung a surprise at the start of the encounter when he decided to field four at the back. The ploy also meant that Javi functioned in the ‘hole’, a tactic that could’ve been aimed at exploiting Mumbai’s tendency to allow midfield runners into the final third.

And, throughout the first half, that was a recurring pattern as the likes of Halder, Javi, Jayesh, Krishna and Williams caused the hosts all sorts of problems.

On countless occasions, either of Krishna or Williams dropped deep, thereby forcing one of the central defenders to come into the middle third. In the process, space was created in the defensive line. The visitors capitalized on those areas as their midfielders went beyond their strikers and created confusion in the Mumbai rear-guard.

Both goals were a direct result of midfield runners not being tracked, thereby signalling that ATK’s game-plan worked a charm offensively.

On the defensive front, the visitors were content to allow the hosts to whip in crosses from the flanks, courtesy the Kolkata-based outfit’s superiority in the air. And, though there were a couple of shaky moments, they largely kept the Islanders quiet.

Also, ATK played with three in midfield, meaning that they often marked the hosts’ midfielders diligently, meaning that they didn’t allow Larbi and Raynier Fernandes the time to scythe through the defence.

In the nascent stages of the 2019-20 season, there had been question marks over ATK’s ability to hold their own against the premier sides in the competition. Yet, with each passing game, they are only strengthening their credentials and proving that they are indeed a force to be reckoned with.