ATK Mohun Bagan vs Mumbai City FC: 5 Talking points from the ISL match

When both the last season's ISL finalists ATK Mohun Bagan FC and Mumbai City FC faced each other in an exciting Indian Super League match, It was expected to be a competitive encounter. But the results came up with a different story. As Antonio Habas faced his biggest ever ISL defeat with Mumbai City bagging home a thrashing 5-1 win.

From the first minute itself, Mumbai City FC started to dominate the game and never looked back. ATK Mohun Bagan was badly outplayed in tactics and strategies. Vikram Partap Singh along with Bipin Singh starred as their side grabbed 3 points from this crucial fixture. With this win, Mumbai City won consecutive four matches against the Green and Maroon brigade. Here are 5 talking points of the enthralling match.

Vikram Partap Singh steals the show on Debut

Vikram Partap Singh had a mesmerizing debut tonight. He started the match on the right-wing and dominated that side throughout. He scored the opening goal in the 4th minute and doubled the lead in the 25th minute, both goals coming from Bipin Singh's cross. While coming on against ATK Mohun Bagan's defence, Vikram always looked thunderous and promising.

Stealing the limelight about a month ago in U23 Asian qualifiers, Vikram Partap Singh was handed his debut gave a man of the match performance. From playing in the right-wing, Vikram shifted to the middle to support Igor Angulo and increase numerical supremacy inside ATK Mohun Bagan's box. This move saw him score two poachers goals tonight. He also looked bright with skills and good game sense. Continuing this form will definitely see Vikram Partap Singh being a future start in the Indian football circuit.

Bipin Singh dominated the wings

Bipin Singh continued his excellent form against ATK Mohun Bagan. In the first half, he dominated the whole left wing. He also provided two excellent assists and numerous excellent crosses. In the second half, Bipin scored with a thunderous strike against a 10 man ATKMB. He implemented his speed very well down the wings to misbalance the whole ATK Mohun Bagan's right side. Bipin provided frequent low crosses into the box which yielded golden results for his team. His 4th minute low cross assist was crucial for unsettling ATKMB's defence line from the start.

That early goal worked as the catalyst for Mumbai City FC's dominant performance. Bipin accompanied by Vikram Partap Singh ran riots down the wings. Vikram was mostly seen shifting towards the box to add numerical supremacy in the opposition's box which needed Bipin to step up and put excellent crosses to which Bipin performed exceptionally well

ATK Mohun Bagan stood still

ATK Mohun Bagan is counted among the best teams in India but tonight's performance was nowhere near to be good. Starting from the first minute, ATK Mohun Bagan's defence and midfield line stood still and showed no resistance to Mumbai City FC's attack. Wing back Subhasish Bose and Pritam Kotal faded away with minutes progressing. Midfielder Deepak Tangri, Lenny Rodrigues, Hugo Boumous, Joni Kauko never looked to be in good touch and control of the game.

Roy Krishna was excellently marked by Mumbai City FC's defence as he hardly got hold of the ball inside the box. Wingers Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh too never made any good moves through the wings and spent most of their time defending Mumbai attacks. During set pieces, ATKMB always looked fragile and prone to conceding. On a whole, ATKMB were badly outplayed by MCFC throughout the whole game.

Wing play changed the game

From the first minute to the last, ATK Mohun Bagan FC was badly outrun in both the wings. During the first half, Bipin dominated the whole left-wing and Vikram Partap Singh the right. Side-backs Subhasish Bose and Pritam Kotal never looked abled in stopping the Mumbai attack. Wingers Liston and Manvir failed to cover the wings and help the side backs, this created a heavy gap in the wings for Mumbai to exploit.

Taking advantage of this, Bipin and Vikram ran downed both the wings with help from their side backs Mandar Rao Desai and Amey Ranawade. The first two goals came from low crosses from the left wing in which the ATK Mohun Bagan defence only could watch. While defending, Pritam and Subhasish moved in the middle to solidify the central defence to which Manvir and Liston should have covered the wings but failed to do so. This gifted Mumbai City FC's winger's acres of space to run and dominate both sides.

Bagan drastically failed in every department

A team consisting of Roy Krishna, Hugo Boumous, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco and Joni Kauko failed to register a shot on target till the 60th minute of the game until substitute David Williams scored a long ranger from the only shot on target for his side. ATK Mohun Bagan had a very less share of ball possession tonight as their midfielders badly failed to create dominance on the ball.

The Kolkata Giants looked off-color this evening. The duo of Roy Krishna and Hugo Boumous never clicked as a result of the excellent work rate from the Mumbai City FC defence. Things turned further odd at the end for Bagan as head coach Antonio Lopez Habas refused to interact with media after suffering humiliation against Mumbai City. The gaffer is expected to be fined at least 2 lakhs INR based on the match commissioner's review and league's competition team's report.