Moritz slams first hat-trick of ISL as Mumbai City thrash FC Pune 5-0

Mumbai: Freddie Ljungberg didn’t start and Nicolas Anelka was banned anyway — but that didn’t stop Mumbai City FC from thrashing Maharashtra rivals FC Pune City in a match where the home team showed a cutting edge they lacked in their opening defeat to Atletico de Kolkata. For those who thought that surfaces really didn’t matter in football, Peter Reid and his team showed that it does. On DY Patil’s slick natural grass surface, they were simply unstoppable. Their movement was brilliant, their passing was quick and calculated and their counter attacks came at breathtaking speed in an emphatic 5-0 win. And in the middle of it all were Andre Moritz and Subhash Singh — the two playing off Nadong Bhutia in a three-pronged attack as Reid made four changes to the side that lost 0-3 in Kolkata. In came Subhash, Moritz, Peter Costa and Nadong Bhutia for Diego Nadaya, Raju Gaikwad, Deepak Mondal and the injured Syed Nabi. [caption id=“attachment_1762775” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  ISL[/caption] Moritz had come on for Mumbai in that opening loss and showed some real drive in attack — and continued in the same vein as he cut in from the right wing at a shooting angle before smashing it past Emanuele Belardi in the 12th minute for the first of his three goals on the night. 15 minutes later, he swept in from Lalrindika Ralte’s corner after Nadong had forced a fine save from Belardi with a near-post header. Pune, who never really got into the game, were punished further when Jan Stohanzl — known more for his crunching tackles — put Subhash through on goal with a peach of a ball which the Manipuri finished with aplomb. After a brief 10-minute period of attacking football immediately after the first half, Pune went into damage control mode. In fact, their most memorable moment was their coach Franco Colomba showing a fine piece of skill when a ball came over the touchline to him — his first time control and pass with the backheel even applauded by the Mumbai crowd. With three points guaranteed, Reid delighted the crowd by bringing on Ljungberg with just over 20 minutes left to play. The Swede added immediate composure to a midfield which still needed to see off the game. But those worries were abolished with Moritz bursting into the box, adjusting his body with a couple of slick body shifts and finishing with the outside of his right foot to complete a superb hat-trick. Sushil Kumar and Asif Kottayil were brought on for goalscoring heroes Subhash and Moritz respectively, but they were not the only ones in the mood. Nadong found space on the right — and unlike a move just minutes before where a cross from Moritz had gone begging past the penalty spot — French defender Johan Letzelter was there to find the top corner and make it five. If Mumbai City can do this without Anelka, their skipper Nabi and a partially fit Ljungberg, then it’s easy to see why they’re being called favourites for the tournament.