ISL 2015: Hume Humiliates Mumbai as Kolkata put title defence back on track
Iain Hume scored a memorable hat-trick as Atletico de Kolkata brought an end to Mumbai City FC's winning streak with a 4-1 victory at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. With this win Atletico have reignited their title defence plans as they lag league leaders Pune by only three points.
The match began with a surprise as Mumbai manager Nicolas Anelka made his first appearance in the Mumbai starting line-up. Atletico de Kolkata made three changes as well, including a first start for Syed Rahim Nabi, against his former club.
Hosts, Mumbai picked up from where they left off against NorthEast United and Sony Norde was confident enough to test the goalkeeper directly from a corner in the third minute.
Five minutes later, Juan Aguilera scooped the ball over the top of the Kolkata defense and Anelka was inches away from reaching the ball before the on-rushing goalkeeper picked it up. At the other end, Sameehg Doutie produced a lovely cross from the left wing.However, Gavilan's diving header went wide.
Mumbai continued to probe in the final third and in the 31st minute Darren O'Dea's dangerous free kick eluded the goalkeeper and reached Nicolas Anelka at the far post, but the Frenchman somehow failed to direct his header on goal.
The home side were made to pay for that big miss when a couple of minutes later Iain Hume provided Atletico with the lead. The Canadian forward volleyed in a lovely cross from Jaime Gavilan for his first goal of the tournament.
Kolkata doubled their lead just before the end of the first half when Subhash Singh brought down Gavilan inside the box with a rash challenge. Hume stepped up and converted from the resultant penalty to score his second.
With his team trailing 2-0 at halftime, Nicolas Anelka made wholesale changes to the lineupat the start of the second half. The Frenchman brought on Frederic Piquionne, Rowilson Rodrigues and Selim Benachour for the second half.
The Blue devils threw the kitchen sink at Kolkata in search of a goal and after multiple attempts, and some fine saves by Atletico goalkeeper Amrinder Singh, Mumbai finally found the back of the net in the 70th minute.
Amrinder saved Sunil Chhetri's initial shot, but Benachour was first to the rebound and turned it in. That goal did bring a ray of hope for a comeback for the men in blue, but Atletico smothered it just five minutes later.
Augustin Fernandes restored Kolkata's two-goal, when his shot found the bottom corner of the net after a lovely one-two with Sameehg Doutie at the edge of the box.
Doutie was at the center of the action once again in the 81st minute, when he cut back the ball from the byline for Hume to apply the finishing touches. It completed the Canadian forward's hat-trick and sealed the three points for Kolkata.
This 4-1 loss brought an end to Mumbai's three-match winning streak and has dropped them down to sixth in the table. Atletico's title defense is now back on track, and Antonio Habas will be delighted with the fact that his team has finally managed to play as a unit in attack.
As we inch towards the half-way point of the season, the title race remains wide open with just a three-point gap between the league leaders, FC Pune City, and Mumbai City FC at sixth.
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