Upbeat Mumbai City hold all S's as injuries and defeats plague defending champs ATK
THE SITUATION IS ALL TOO FAMILIAR. It happened last year too. A couple of injuries and changes up front left Atletico de Kolkata without a goal-scorer in the team. For back to back matches they were unable to produce a goal. Lucky for them, the regular season was almost over by then. They went into playoffs, beat FC Goa by penalties in the semis after 0-0 draws on both legs, then snuck in a last minute goal in the final to win the inaugural ISL.
But unfortunately for the defending champions, the monster has struck early this year. For the last 3 matches the ATK attack has been unable to produce a single goal. And the famed defence that earned back to back clean sheets last year to push them through to the title has not earned a single clean sheet so far this season. Riding on three 1-0 defeats, ATK are about to face an uphill task against a vicariously upbeat Mumbai City.
Anelka's boys are now officially well over their shaky start. From being bottom of the table just about two weeks ago, tonight they will fight to go to the top of the table. They are on a 3-game winning streak during which they scored 9 goals and conceded just 1. The run of 5 straight home games has done the team a world of good as they have finally found a sweet balance in the team spearheaded by their Four S's (Aces?) namely Sunil Chhetri, Sony Norde, Subash Singh and Subrata Pal. The team combination is working so well that player-manager Nicolas Anelka hasn't had to bring himself on, as he confessed in the pre-match press conference,
"I wanted to come on against NorthEast United but after we scored 5 goals I didn't feel like it."
That has to be one of the best feelings for a manager, and one of the worst for a player, all rolled into one Anelka beaming from the sidelines. For Mumbai City fans these are exciting times indeed.
As for tonight's match, Anelka said there is no special plan,
"We are playing at home. Everybody wants to win... I think it will be tough but we'll give our best. It's important to get 3 points from here because we have many away games after this."
While it is true that the toughest phase of Mumbai's season will begin only after this match, for Kolkata things have already boiled to a fever pitch. Multiple players are out injured, including marquee striker Helder Postiga, midfielders Josemi and Arata Izumi. ATK assistant coach Bastab Roy played down the injury problem in their team, saying,
"Not that it hasn't been a problem but Javi Lara, Jewel Raja and Valdo are coming back soon, so it's a good sign."
The options for ATK head coach Antonio Habas are stretched thin with so many vital players unavailable. Playing against a ferocious attacking side like Mumbai City he might seek to go a little heavy on the defence playing Juan Calatayud instead of a fledging Amrinder Singh. And he might want to play Syed Rahim Nabi in the midfield instead of Sameehg Doutie to keep up the Indian-foreigner ratio.
Other things seem to be going wrong as well for ATK. They reached Mumbai yesterday and were scheduled to practice in the afternoon at the D Y Patil Stadium. But maybe due to the heat or some other reason Habas decided to cancel the practice session, not wanting to risk fatigue ahead of the match.
Sent in his stead at the pre-match presser, Bastab Roy called this a "do or die" match. Which is not far from truth. ATK have slid down to 6th position in the table and another loss could easily see them drop down to 7th at the end of the first leg. Things have reached a critical stage and the defending champions must strike back. Because unlike the semi-finals, the regular season doesn't let you progress via penalty shootout after you have failed to score during the match.
Probable starting line-ups:
Mumbai City FC - Subroto Pal, Darren O'Dea, Frantz Bertin, Pavel Cmovs, Lalchhuan Mawia, Crisitan Bustos, Sony Norde, Ashutosh Mehta, Frederic Piquionne, Sunil Chhetri, Subash Singh
Atletico de Kolkata - Juan Calatayud, Rinto Anto, Arnab Mondal, Tiri, Augustin Fernandes, Borja Fernandez, Jaime Gavilan, Syed Rahim Nabi, Oftense Nato, Iain Hume, Baljit Singh Sahni
