NorthEast United beat Mumbai 2-0 in front of a raucous home crowd of 15,123 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati on Friday to climb up to fourth in the table and placed themselves in pole position for the last playoff spot in the run up to the closing stages of the league.
Bruno’s first half penalty and Diomansy Kamara’s late tap-in ensured that Cesar Farias’ side jumped over Pune City and the win subsequently took NorthEast’s points tally to 16 after 11 matches, crossing their last year’s tally of 15 with three games to go.
At the start of the league, NorthEast had looked dead and buried as they had lost their first three games and fans and team management must have thought that they were getting a repeat performance of last year.
NorthEast still have some tough fixtures to negotiate though as they face two of the table-toppers next, FC Goa away and Delhi at home in their next two matches before finishing their campaign at home to their immediate neighbours in the table and fellow play-off chasers, Pune, in what could be the decisive clash for the last spot in the semis.
But NorthEast know that one win from their remaining three matches could be enough given that both Pune and Mumbai have tough fixtures and are on winless runs of five games each. They will also be buoyed by the fact that they are on a good run themselves having lost one game in their last five, picking up ten points along the way.
Mumbai still reeling from 7-0
Last time around, Mumbai got the beating of their lives at the hands of FC Goa, and were at the receiving end of two hat-tricks from Dudu and Haokip on their way to losing 7-0. In such cases, recovery can prove extremely difficult and tricky.
Any Manchester United fan will remember the 1-6 thrashing at home to neighbours and bitter rivals, Manchester City and wondering whether things would ever be the same again. It is a thought which would have crossed the mind of the staff, the board, the manager, the fans and, most importantly, the players.
A similar situation occurred when Germany thrashed Brazil 7-1 at the 2014 World Cup semi-finals at the Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte. After the conclusion of which, the image of Brazilian defender David Luiz would have moved probably the most hard-hearted of German supporters
So what happened next? United under Sir Alex Ferguson went to Goodison Park, a stadium where they had struggled in recent years and ground out a 1-0 win over Everton while Brazil under Luis Felipe Scolari lost the third place playoff 3-0 to Louis Van Gaal’s Netherlands side.
More often than not, the handling of these situations depends upon the man management skills of the manager and his ability to revive the lost belief and morale in the team. One wonders whether Nicolas Anelka, a man known to have created many a tension in many a manager’s mind, would have had the necessary nous to stitch together the pieces of his team’s fragile confidence.
NorthEast capitalise, Mumbai miss
Anelka’s response to the heaviest margin of defeat the Indian Super League has ever seen was a surprising one. He dropped one of Mumbai’s most influential players – Sony Norde and brought in Saran Singh for his first match of the season.
Mumbai came flying off the blocks as Benachour’s ball to the far post was volleyed by Saran but straight into Rehenesh’s hands. They seemed to start with a sense of purpose as Anelka was sent through on goal but his shot was blocked.
The front three of Mumbai combined well again as Chettri this time got in behind the defence but the NorthEast defence remained solid. The two teams were playing in contrasting styles as Mumbai were controlling the midfield battle while NorthEast were looking to spring a surprise on the counter.
Mumbai were however made to pay for their missed chances in the 39th minute as a Kamara run into the box was blatantly checked by Rowilson and the referee rightly pointed to the spot. Up-stepped Bruno to take the penalty and he confidently slotted it low into the left corner to give the home side the lead. Mumbai ended the half a goal behind and with a lot to ponder.
NorthEast started the second half strongly as they attacked the Mumbai goal and Seityasen, after being set up by Mendy, shot straight at Subrata Pal. The Mumbai custodian saved and the follow-up hit the side netting. NorthEast were looking to step up their game as Nico Velez substituted Mendy as Mumbai replaced Saran Singh with Subhash Singh.
Mumbai came close yet again as Anelka and Benachour played a one two and Chettri received the ball only to shoot it agonisingly close of the far post. Sony Norde finally came in for Aguilera and almost had an instant impact. Norde galloped away on the left back and cut the ball back for his manager, only for Anelka’s shot to be just tipped away from goal by Rehenesh.
That save was worth its weight in gold as Simao’s free kick was flapped at by Pal who completely missed it. The ball made its way from a crowd of players to Kamara who merely had to tip it into the goal to double NorthEast’s lead.
It could have been worse for Mumbai as Cmovs could easily have been sent off for taking down Velez when he was through on goal in the second minute of injury time. He received a yellow as the home side saw the game out.
Mumbai had their third straight match without a goal and time is surely running out for Anelka’s men. They have a must-win match against Kerala at home, before going away to Chennaiyin and the defending champions Atletico De Kolkata. They have to win one of these away matches now to stand a chance of making the semis. On the face of today’s performance and their away showings throughout the season, one would not bet on them to make the grade this year.
Bruno’s first half penalty and Diomansy Kamara’s late tap-in ensured that Cesar Farias’ side jumped over Pune City and the win subsequently took NorthEast’s points tally to 16 after 11 matches, crossing their last year’s tally of 15 with three games to go.
At the start of the league, NorthEast had looked dead and buried as they had lost their first three games and fans and team management must have thought that they were getting a repeat performance of last year.
NorthEast still have some tough fixtures to negotiate though as they face two of the table-toppers next, FC Goa away and Delhi at home in their next two matches before finishing their campaign at home to their immediate neighbours in the table and fellow play-off chasers, Pune, in what could be the decisive clash for the last spot in the semis.
But NorthEast know that one win from their remaining three matches could be enough given that both Pune and Mumbai have tough fixtures and are on winless runs of five games each. They will also be buoyed by the fact that they are on a good run themselves having lost one game in their last five, picking up ten points along the way.
Mumbai still reeling from 7-0
Last time around, Mumbai got the beating of their lives at the hands of FC Goa, and were at the receiving end of two hat-tricks from Dudu and Haokip on their way to losing 7-0. In such cases, recovery can prove extremely difficult and tricky.
Any Manchester United fan will remember the 1-6 thrashing at home to neighbours and bitter rivals, Manchester City and wondering whether things would ever be the same again. It is a thought which would have crossed the mind of the staff, the board, the manager, the fans and, most importantly, the players.
A similar situation occurred when Germany thrashed Brazil 7-1 at the 2014 World Cup semi-finals at the Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte. After the conclusion of which, the image of Brazilian defender David Luiz would have moved probably the most hard-hearted of German supporters
So what happened next? United under Sir Alex Ferguson went to Goodison Park, a stadium where they had struggled in recent years and ground out a 1-0 win over Everton while Brazil under Luis Felipe Scolari lost the third place playoff 3-0 to Louis Van Gaal’s Netherlands side.
More often than not, the handling of these situations depends upon the man management skills of the manager and his ability to revive the lost belief and morale in the team. One wonders whether Nicolas Anelka, a man known to have created many a tension in many a manager’s mind, would have had the necessary nous to stitch together the pieces of his team’s fragile confidence.
NorthEast capitalise, Mumbai miss
Anelka’s response to the heaviest margin of defeat the Indian Super League has ever seen was a surprising one. He dropped one of Mumbai’s most influential players – Sony Norde and brought in Saran Singh for his first match of the season.
Mumbai came flying off the blocks as Benachour’s ball to the far post was volleyed by Saran but straight into Rehenesh’s hands. They seemed to start with a sense of purpose as Anelka was sent through on goal but his shot was blocked.
The front three of Mumbai combined well again as Chettri this time got in behind the defence but the NorthEast defence remained solid. The two teams were playing in contrasting styles as Mumbai were controlling the midfield battle while NorthEast were looking to spring a surprise on the counter.
Mumbai were however made to pay for their missed chances in the 39th minute as a Kamara run into the box was blatantly checked by Rowilson and the referee rightly pointed to the spot. Up-stepped Bruno to take the penalty and he confidently slotted it low into the left corner to give the home side the lead. Mumbai ended the half a goal behind and with a lot to ponder.
NorthEast started the second half strongly as they attacked the Mumbai goal and Seityasen, after being set up by Mendy, shot straight at Subrata Pal. The Mumbai custodian saved and the follow-up hit the side netting. NorthEast were looking to step up their game as Nico Velez substituted Mendy as Mumbai replaced Saran Singh with Subhash Singh.
Mumbai came close yet again as Anelka and Benachour played a one two and Chettri received the ball only to shoot it agonisingly close of the far post. Sony Norde finally came in for Aguilera and almost had an instant impact. Norde galloped away on the left back and cut the ball back for his manager, only for Anelka’s shot to be just tipped away from goal by Rehenesh.
That save was worth its weight in gold as Simao’s free kick was flapped at by Pal who completely missed it. The ball made its way from a crowd of players to Kamara who merely had to tip it into the goal to double NorthEast’s lead.
It could have been worse for Mumbai as Cmovs could easily have been sent off for taking down Velez when he was through on goal in the second minute of injury time. He received a yellow as the home side saw the game out.
Mumbai had their third straight match without a goal and time is surely running out for Anelka’s men. They have a must-win match against Kerala at home, before going away to Chennaiyin and the defending champions Atletico De Kolkata. They have to win one of these away matches now to stand a chance of making the semis. On the face of today’s performance and their away showings throughout the season, one would not bet on them to make the grade this year.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!