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Mumbai – With a loss and a draw in the first two outings, a struggling Mumbai City FC will be eyeing to record their first win of the season when they take on state rivals FC Pune City in the Indian Super League Friday.
Mumbai have started the season in an unimpressive fashion — with a 2-0 loss at home to Jamshedpur FC, followed by an away 1-1 draw against Kerala Blasters.
So the ‘Islanders’, coached by Jorge Costa, are expected to come out Friday with all guns blazing.
Mumbai will have to improve in all areas, particularly in defence, as they have conceded three goals in the two games so far.
The hosts also missed several opportunities to score in the first two games, and this is another area of concern for the team management.
The coveted ISL crown has eluded Mumbai for the past four seasons and a win will surely boost the side’s confidence going deeper into the tournament.
Also, all eyes will be on Amrinder Singh, whose role in keeping a clean sheet will be crucial for Mumbai.
On the other hand, Pune, who managed to eke out a 1-1 draw against Delhi Dynamos, will also be targeting their first win of the season.
The Pune coach also praised Mumbai’s defender Lucian Goian but sounded upbeat about his team’s chances.
Pune also possess a string of good strikers, along with mid-fielders and defender, and will surely pose a threat to Mumbai in their own backyard.
Interestingly, Pune City’s last league win came in this same fixture against Mumbai City last season. Pune had won the home tie 1-0 before travelling to Mumbai to seal a 2-0 win. In fact, Mumbai have not won any of their previous three matches against Pune at home.
With both sides chasing their first win of the season, the Maha Derby has plenty at stake for the fans, players and the coaches.
SQUADS: Mumbai boast of some of the best players in the League – Paulo Machado (Portugal), Senegal’s Modou Sougou, striker Rafael Bastos (Brazil) and Subhashish Bose.
If Sougou and Bastos play to their potential, they can pose a threat to any side and Pune will be no exception in the ‘Maharashtra Derby’ at the Mumbai Football Arena in suburban Andheri.
Mumbai have strengthened their defence with Bose, but that area still remains a concern.
They also have Romanian Lucian Goian, Arnold Issoko (Congo), Souvik Ghosh and Anwar Ali to protect the citadel.
All of them will have to buckle up against a strong Pune attack.
Matias Mirabaje will be out of tomorrow’s game.
Protecting the hosts’ backline against Marcelinho & Co. will be Lucian Goian who has been the lone bright spot in an otherwise average Mumbai City defence.
The battle between Mumbai’s defence and Pune’s attack should turn out to be the defining battle in this match. The match-up also sees Costa’s pragmatic approach come up against a possession-based style of Miguel Portugal.
RECENT FORM: Mumbai have just one point from their first two opening games during which they scored just once and have had seven shots on target. The home team has a passing accuracy of 69.22 per cent. On the other hand, Pune could manage a draw in their only game this season against Delhi Dynamos during which they scored once and had a passing accuracy of 64.24 per cent passing accuracy.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: The teams have faced each other eight times and Pune have won five of those derbies while Mumbai City FC could win only twice.
MANAGERS SPEAK: Conceding that the results so far have not been as what they wanted, Costa said the team will put up a better show.
“We are working good and hoping that tomorrow we do better than the first (home) game and hoping also that we can get three points,” said Costa.
“I am happy with the team, with the players. It is true that we are building a new team, but this cannot be an excuse, we are working hard working hard and Im sure tomorrow we will do much better,” he added.
He also termed the clash against Pune as difficult.
“Pune is a very good team, they have almost the same team as last season. They are a very good team and have a very good coach. They have played only one game (so far). It will be a difficult game for us,” the coach said.
Pune’s coach Miguel Angel Portugal said he was aware of Mumbai’s problems.
“Its the second match for us. I know that they (Mumbai) lost their first match here against Jamshedpur but against Kerala Blasters, Mumbai played well. Against Jamshedpur they played in the first half. But I know whats the problem with Mumbai and well try to win,” said Portugal.
PROBABLE 11s:
MUMBAI CITY FC: Amrinder Singh, Sauvik Chakrabarti, Lucian Goian, Subhasish Bose, Shouvik Ghosh, Arnold Issoko, Paulo Machado, Sehnaj Singh, Raynier Fernandes, Modou Sougou, Rafael Bastos
FC PUNE CITY: Vishal Kaith, Nim Dorjee Tamang, Matt Mills, Martin Diaz, Lalchhuanmawia Fanai, , Marko Stankovic, Adil Khan, Jakob Vanlalhlimpuia, Ashique Kuruniyan, Emiliano Alfaro, Marcelinho
