Mumbai City FC vs Kerala Blasters FC: Five Talking Points from the ISL Match

Defending champions Mumbai City FC were humbled by Kerala Blasters FC in the 35th match of the Indian Super League 2021-22 season at the Fatorda Stadium on Sunday.

Mumbai started the game well but couldn't match Kerala's dominance after conceding the first goal. The Yellow Army broke the deadlock in the 27th minute when Sahal scored a superb half-volley goal from a Jorge Diaz cross.

Alvaro Vazquez doubled Kerala's advantage with a thunderbolt two minutes into the second half. Mourtada Fall received his second yellow of the night after a rash challenge on Jorge Diaz inside the box. The Argentine forward made no mistake and scored the third goal for his team from the spot in the 51st minute.

🔥 Full-time@KeralaBlasters are now just two points behind the top 4️⃣#ISL #IndianFootball #TheBridgeFootball #MCFCKBFC #LetsFootball pic.twitter.com/bTtQLUKROh

— The Bridge Football (@bridge_football) December 19, 2021

Here are the top five talking points from the match between Mumbai City FC and Kerala Blasters FC:

Sahal opened the proceeding for Kerala

Sahal Abdul Samad opened the scoring for Kerala Blasters in the 27th minute with a stunning strike on the half-volley. The goal was a carbon copy to the one that he scored from Rahul KP's cross against ATK Mohun Bagan in the opening fixture of the ISL 2021-22 season.

The Indian international midfielder exhibited great control as he receives a cross from Jorge Diaz. He waits for the ball as he was unmarked inside the box and then finds space to fire it to the left of the goalkeeper. Nawaz got no chance to save that shot.

Mumbai City are beatable

Des Buckingham's men have produced some sensational performances this season especially after their defeat to Hyderabad in the second game. They were on the verge of extending their winning streak and leading at the top of the ISL table against Kerala Blasters.

But Kerala Blasters' motivated high-pressing strategy proved that every single time has got problems and you just need to capitalize on those. It was only their second loss of the season in the Indian Super League and the first time they conceded a goal first.

With this win, the Yellow Army ended the Islanders' four games winning streak and moves to the fifth position on the points table.

Mumbai severely struggled against Kerala's pressing

Ivan Vukomanovic opted with two foreigner strikers and started the likes of Jeakson, Puitea as central midfielders against Mumbai City. Kerala started their pressing football from minute one and that caused serious trouble to the MCFC backline.

Mumbai likes to play out from the back but Kerala's forward line was very quick to pile pressure on Mumbai defence. They kept pressing football going for the majority of the game, especially after the first goal. The likes of Jorge Diaz, Adrian Luna, Alvaro Vazquez, and Sahal Samad made life very difficult for Mumbai defenders in what was a very poor display from Buckingham's men.

Should Ygor Catatau start ahead of Igor Angulo?

Igor Angulo failed to make an impact in the game and missed a brilliant opportunity to equalize the scoreline in the 3rd minute of the additional time in the first half. This was the first time Mumbai failed to register a shot on target in the first half of the game.

Ygor Catatau came on as a substitute in all seven games for MCFC and the Brazilian forward has registered three goals in his 175 playing minutes in this season so far.

Today, he came on as a substitute for Angulo in the 58th minute. He reached goal-scoring positions on multiple occasions but failed to find the back of the net.

This is going to be a long season

Kerala Blasters surely ruined the mood of the Islanders tonight and but put happiness on the face of many. MCFC could have extended their lead to seven points if they have beaten KBFC.

But instead, they have suffered their second defeat and will miss Mourtada Fall against North East United FC due to suspension. They now sit on top of the league with fifteen points from seven games. Hyderabad are on the second spot with eleven points in six games with a game in hand. So, it goes without saying that the title race is wide open at the moment.