ISL 2016: Mumbai City FC 0-0 Atletico de Kolkata - 5 Talking Points
Atletico de Kolkata are through to their second ISL final after playing out a goalless draw at the Mumbai Football Arena against Mumbai City FC. Kolkata played the last 60 minutes of the game with ten men after Robert Lalthlamuana was sent off for two bookable offences in the first half.
Sunil Chhetri had the chance of the game for Mumbai early in the first half as he went one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but his shot was straight at Debjit Majumder. Even late in injury time, Mumbai had a golden opportunity to stretch the game into extra time when Sony Norde’s low cross was sliced by Lucian Goian, but the ball went straight to Jackichand Singh whose shot flew high over Debjit’s goal.
Also read: Post-match brawl mars Kolkata's final progress
Here are a few interesting points of discussion from the game.
#1 Molina’s gamble pays off
Kolkata’s manager Jose Molina made nine changes from the team that played in the first leg. Borja Fernandez and Henrique Sereno were the only survivors from the starting XI on that day. Sameehg Doutie, Helder Postiga and Iain Hume were all benched, as Molina went for a pragmatic, safety-first approach.
Tiri partnered Sereno at the heart of the Kolkata defence, Stephen Pearson was included to add steel in midfield and Juan Belencoso was there for his ability to graft and work hard. In the end, these worked as part of a larger plan for Molina.
The Spanish coach must have thought that Kolkata’s best chance to qualify was if they didn’t concede any goals. In the absence of Diego Forlan for Mumbai, Kolkata had to snuff Matias Defederico out of the game and they did a pretty good job of it, with the Argentine being marshalled by the sheer weight of numbers.
Molina might have been tempted to start Hume after his two goals in the first leg, but he resisted that urge. Now, with Kolkata through, he has the luxury of picking his three best-attacking players, with them having had a good rest.
Hume and Postiga did not play a single minute of this game and Doutie came on with 5 minutes to go.