ISL 2016: FC Pune City 0-1 Mumbai City FC - 5 talking points
On match day 3 of the Indian Super League, FC Pune City took on Mumbai City FC at the Balewadi stadium in Pune. The Maharashtrian derby has always been a feisty affair, and the last one at this venue ended in a 3-1 victory to the team from Pune. However, this time around Mumbai City FC got sweet revenge, as they beat their state rivals 1-0, thanks to a superbly taken Mathias Defederico goal.
The game was a tightly contested affair, with both teams seizing the initiatives at different intervals, but in the end, the men in white triumphed and sealed only the 2nd away win in their ISL history.
Here are the 5 things we learned from the game:
#1 Habas should have made better use of Bruno Arias
Every good team requires a midfielder who can step up and control the game, pick passes and unlock defences. If you have someone who has this skill set, then you have to make sure he gets involved while your team is attacking. FC Pune City started off with a 4-2-3-1 formation but kept switching to a more fluid 4-1-4-1 system several times during the match.
What was puzzling, however, was to discover that Lenny Rodriguez was pushed forward, and not Bruno. The Pune City captain was at the heart of every move they made, especially in the first half, so one thought it would be natural to see him in a more advanced role, dictating the play and troubling the Mumbai defence. However, the very experienced Antonio Habas obviously did not see it this way, which was really very surprising.