ISL: Atletico de Kolkata 3-0 Mumbai City FC - 5 talking points

#3 Both teams struggled with their short passing initially

Both teams struggled initially but Kolkata got better

It was interesting to see both teams struggle with their short passing initially in the game. There were numerous instances of the pass being underhit and the ball just slowing down and not reaching the intended player. Kolkata’s got progressively better as the game wore on and was also possibly aided by the fact that they settled in nicely after the first goal.

Mumbai struggled for much longer and even by the end of the game had not completely come to terms with it. This could possibly be down to the nature of the pitch which looked very sluggish and also a little to do with the amount of time that these players have actually spent training together, which isn’t exactly a lot.

So, it felt and looked like the first game of any tournament, with some very patchy phases of passing, which should improve as the tournament goes on. A good portion of Mumbai’s attacks rely on that crisp short-passing as seen from their warm-up games, so it will be paramount that they get their act together.