A Bipin Singh strike and a Shubham Sharangi own goal allowed Mumbai City FC to walk out winners from the Mumbai Football Arena on Saturday against Odisha FC in an ISL game. The remarkable feature of their victory was how they deployed three forwards up front in Bipin, Vikram Pratap Singh and Lallianzuala Chhangte, all of whom have either played for the national team or will break into it in the coming seasons.
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Double delight for @bipin_thounajam as he becomes the joint 🔝 goalscorer for @MumbaiCityFC in the #HeroISL alongside Modou Sougou after securing the three points and netting his 15th goal for the club! 💥#MCFCOFC #LetsFootball #MumbaiCityFC #OdishaFC pic.twitter.com/8S6A1Wu9Rs
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) October 15, 2022
One of the facets of the ISL that has irked national team coaches in the past is that Indian players are seldom used in important positions on the pitch. Often ISL teams would run out with foreign players at the centre-back, midfield and attacking positions. But Mumbai using Indian players for crucial spots on the pitch, is a change that can only help when these players end up going for national camps and international tournaments.
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Mumbai City FC coach Des Buckingham detailed his use of the three forwards in the post-match press conference after yesterday’s win over Odisha FC. We have got Vikram, Chhangte and Bipin, they all have different skill sets. That’s so important as we move ahead in the season.
🎙️ Hear from our all-time leading goalscorer @bipin_thounajam fresh off setting yet another record! ⚡️#MCFCOFC #MumbaiCity #AamchiCity 🔵 pic.twitter.com/uDukg9tHzK
— Mumbai City FC (@MumbaiCityFC) October 15, 2022
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“The beauty of having three, with different skill sets, is when we play different teams. Each of them is going to be very important. If a team wants to come press us, we know we have the pace to go in behind. If a team wants to drop deeper, we know we have tricky ball players. It just gives us different options that we might want to use right at the start or throughout the game,” said Buckingam.
Mumbai also played Apuia Ralte in the midfield with Vinit Rai waiting on the side lines. Ralte recently finished a two-week training stint with Belgian club Lommel SK. Lommel is part of the City Football Group portfolio and the young Indian midfielder got an opportunity to play at a higher pace than what he is used to in the Indian Super League or the national team setup. At 21, the midfielder has already racked up 10 appearances for India and had a breakout season with Mumbai City FC at the Asian Champions League, where he anchored the midfield against teams from the middle east, with bigger, physical midfielders who could close down on the ball fast.
“The way we play, we do have good midfield players. But if we can create space for them, to start with, that’s the important role of our wingers,” Buckingham said.
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This was Mumbai’s first game in a couple of seasons, with fans involved. The pandemic had earlier curtailed ISL teams from playing home games with a closed-door tournament being held in Goa.
