Andre Moritz, the giant

However, against a sturdy Pune City side on a sultry evening at the DY Patil Stadium here on Saturday, the shy but ‘smart’ striker conjured up the best performance by an Indian player in the ISL so far.

SUBHASH TORMENTS

Moritz (12th minute, 27’ & 71’) will understandably take all the plaudits for his three well-scored goals. But Subhash’s performance did not go unnoticed. The former Air India and East Bengal striker tormented Pune with his pace. He stretched the defence by constantly finding space behind them, dragging the centre-backs wide with his lateral runs, giving Moritz plenty of space on the edge of the box.

Pune had no answer to the movements made by Subhash and Moritz. The hosts opened the scoring with one such move in the 12th minute. Moritz latched on to a diagonal ball, cutting inside from the right wing.

Subhash made a move behind the defenders and Moritz, with no defender in front of him, unleashed a powerful left-footer that went past goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi. But for the former Juventus and Reggina goalkeeper, the score-line would have been embarrassing for Pune. “It was something we had worked on during the last two training sessions. With his speed, we thought we would be able to stretch their defence and it worked out well,” Moritz said after the match.

Moritz, Mumbai’s last-minute addition to the squad, has had a huge impact on the team’s performance. Against Kolkata, the jet-lagged and fatigued attacking midfielder came on as a second half substitute to energise the team and bring some shape in the midfield. On Saturday against Pune, he was at it since the first whistle. In Anelka and Freddie Ljungberg’s absence, the former Bolton Wanderers and Hull City man has provided the creative inspiration Mumbai have been missing.

Mumbai came into the match low on confidence after an underwhelming start to their campaign, losing 3-0 to Atletico de Kolkata on the opening day. However, they ticked almost all the boxes with a solid team effort on Saturday.

They were swift on the counters and used the diagonal, cross-field passes well. Lalrindika Ralte worked tirelessly on the left flank, not having to worry about falling back with the reliable Portuguese Tiago Ribeiro covering him at left back. Czech midfielder Jan Stohanzl and Frenchman Johan Letzelter (85’) dominated the midfield, pushing Pune deep into their half.

So efficient was Mumbai’s back-line that Subrata Pal could have wandered around and still Pune wouldn’t have been able to score. German centre-back Manuel Friedrich towered over David Trezeguet. The former France striker came closest to scoring for Pune, but his header hit the cross bar. That was the only time the Mumbai defence was in danger.