ISL: Mumbai City FC 1-0 Kerala Blasters FC - 5 talking points

In what was a tight match at the DY Patil stadium in Mumbai, the home team defeated Kerala Blasters 1-0 to restore some confidence in their ranks and moved up the standings in the inaugural Indian Super League. The all important goal was scored by Nicolas Anelka, who converted a freekick in great fashion.Kerala Blasters on the other hand would have been disappointed with their reaction once they went a goal down, and thus lost all the momentum they had gained when they won their first game in their previous encounter against FC Pune City.Here are the talking points from the game:

#1 David James managed from the dug out for the first time

Kerala Blasters kicked off their tie against Mumbai without their marquee player-manager David James on the pitch. The former Liverpool shotstopper who had played all games for his side opted to manage the team from the dugout for the first time in the season due to an injury caused during the last match against Pune City, making way for the veteran Sandip Nandy.

The 39 year old Nandy, who has guarded the sticks for the Indian national team on several occasions made the most of the opportunity that came his way by putting in a commendable performance for Blasters. He denied Mumbai more than twice in the second half including one were he went one on one against the Frenchman Nicholas Anelka that looked certain to end in a goal.

The performance of the Indian International is a positive sign for Kerala and he may feature more in coming days, thus allowing for an additional outfield foreign player to play.