ISL 2015: Sanli provides Turkish delight for FC Pune City in the ‘Maha derby’ against Mumbai FC

Mumbai City FC dominated the early possession and looked the more threatening of the two teams, but it was the home side who took the lead against the run of play. The goal arrived from a fast break as Israil Gurung floated in a lovely cross from the right wing. Former Turkish international Tuncay Sanli ghosted in at the far post and headed the ball into the net.

It didn’t take long for the away side to equalize though, as former West Ham United striker Frederic Piquionne equalized with a header of his own. Mumbai City right back through Ashutosh Mehta, who delivered a cross and picked out the Frenchman with stunning accuracy. Piquionne headed the ball past Steve Simonsen as the Pune defence stood still, hoping for an offside flag – it was a poor execution of the offside trap.

Most of Mumbai’s attacks were coming down their right wing with Gabriel Fernandes and Ashutosh Mehta doubling up on Gurjinder Kumar. Pune manager David Platt made a tactical change to counter that with Nick Shorey, who started as the left winger, and Gurjinder swapping roles.

Despite dominating possession, Mumbai failed to take the lead in the first half and both the teams headed into the break tied at 1-1.

The visitors started the second half strongly once again, with Andre Moritz skying an early chance. But just like the first half, the home side took the lead from another quick counter-attack. Israil Gurung once again picked out the 33-year-old forward with an inch-perfect cross at the far post and Tuncay managed to direct it into the net with a diving header – he simply displayed more determination to reach the ball than Mumbai City right back Ashutosh.

Pune began to dominate the game after that goal, as Tuncay dropped deep into the midfield and controlled the pace of the game. The former Middlesbrough man was almost playing in a ‘false 9’ role.

At the hour mark, Tuncay was replaced by Adrian Mutu and he received a loud round of applause from the crowd. The Romanian striker made an immediate impact though, as he was involved in the build-up of the third goal for Pune. Mutu found Gurung on the right wing with a measured pass and the Indian winger’s deflected cross looped over the diving goalkeeper. It was a lucky goal, but one which the 26-year-old richly deserved.

Mumbai City FC threw everything they had at Pune in the final minutes, including their marquee player-manager Nicolas Anelka, but FC Pune City’s defence held on to the two-goal lead.

In the end it was a comfortable win 3-1 win for the home side and David Platt will have a lot to be pleased about ahead of their next fixture.

 It is back to the drawing board for Anelka, whose team looked shaky at the back and lacked penetration in the final third. They would hope some of their issues will be resolved once Sunil Chhetri returns from international duty.