Revenge, controversy, heroes: Mumbai City vs FC Pune City is turning into fitting ISL derby

Mumbai City FC and FC Pune City are the only two clubs in the Indian Super League from one state — an elite opportunity for both clubs to kickstart a rivalry which could last for seasons to come — giving the ISL a derby day to look forward to. But the two teams needed to provide some entertainment in the two encounters they had in the first season for the fixture to really get billed as a ‘derby’ in terms of excitement and not just geographical location. And after last night’s enthralling match, which Pune won 2-0, the fixture is getting there. [caption id=“attachment_1834341” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  After last night’s enthralling match, which Pune won 2-0, they fixture is getting there. ISL[/caption] VENGEANCE: Revenge drives derbies across the world — be it the Milan, Madrid, Manchester or the Merseyside derby. Mumbai set the tone for the return fixture by thumping Pune 5-0 at home. They were coming at the back of a resounding defeat against Atletico in the opening game of the season and Pune were there for the taking — but to thrash them so comprehensively without Nicolas Anelka, Syed Nabi and Freddie Ljungberg in the side was impressive. Nine rounds of matches later — the two teams found themselves in a do-or-die clash to remain in the reckoning for a semifinal spot. Pune were looking the better side though and it has to be said that their 7,000 fans produce as much noise as Mumbai’s average crowd of 21,000 spread over a vast stadium. It was Pune who came out on top, beating them 2-0 in a scoreline that seems respectable only because of Subrata Paul’s brilliant goalkeeping and Pune’s wasteful attackers. At the end of two rounds, the head-to-head stands at 1-1. They can look at each other as equals until next year. CONTROVERSY: What’s a derby without controversy? The first match saw Pune field seven foreigners at a time on the pitch (ISL rules stipulate a maximum of six foreigners at any time) but that didn’t stop them from losing. The second match saw a disallowed goal (which Franco Colomba nonetheless celebrated on the pitch and dropped his reading glasses in the process) by Krizstian Vadocz and an opening goal which the visitors thought shouldn’t have stood. Dudu Omagbeni was left writhing in pain after a challenge but his teammates (and the Mumbai team) both refused to put the ball out of play. The referee let play continue and Kostas Katsouranis spotted a tentative Dudu get up, found him at the far post with a long ball which the striker expertly controlled and scored from before wheeling away in celebration as if he wasn’t injured. He later explained his position saying that it was not his fault that play was not stopped by either team or the referee and he wasn’t offside either. So a goal is a goal. Later, Colomba was sent to the stands and fans gave security quite a scare by rushing to their manager. The Italian had to then trudge of find space in the media/VIP area. There were some heated words exchanged post match too, when Mumbai striker Abhishek Yadav and Dudu went at it after the final whistle. DERBY DAY HEROES: Andre Moritz’s hat-trick was sensational in Mumbai’s 5-0 win — and Subhash Singh’s performance was stellar as he drove forward with pace and trickery on that night. It’s a distant memory for rock-bottom Mumbai now, but it goes to show how far they’ve fallen. In the return fixture, Dudu’s double did the trick for Pune and goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya saved a Tiago Ribeiro penalty when the score was 0-0. The derby day heroes have been created, already.