Four-one can be a deceiving scoreline at times. It was so in the UEFA Champions League final last year. Atletico de Madrid was a minute away from winning the trophy for the first time before Sergio Ramos grabbed an equaliser to force extra time.
In the current case though, Atletico de Kolkata were the benefactor of a rather flattering scoreline. FC Pune City had more shots on target. They hit the woodwork three times and a Kolkata defender had to make a goal line clearance as well. Kolkata had Iain Hume to thank for the decisive touches that propelled them to the semi finals. Often the goal scorer is just the player who happens to put the ball into the net. He is the recipient of acclaim that is better off being put on players who were a part of the build-up.
Hume though worked hard for his goals, running and creating space for himself. This hard work was noticeable in the case of the Canadian international's hat-trick goal. There was individual brilliance from Dejan Lekic to score the fourth goal. He was set up by the tireless Hume who was in his own half shoring up the defence even when his team was two goals up.
Mutu's individual brilliance Pune had their moments of individual spark too. Adrian Mutu had numerous chances. He created one attempt via an overhead kick which went narrowly wide of the goal. That was an impressive physical feat from the 35 year old. What was not breathtaking though was the Romanian's link up play with others. After an invasive run or two, he made passes that were too short. One suspects that tiredness was a reason for this recurring occurrence. Afterwards he would remonstrate. Who he was blaming was not clear. One imagines his team mates wondering whether they would have been better off with a younger Mutu. The fact that he was declared the fittest player of the match is an indictment of the fitness standards of the players around him.
The last minute summed up the match. Pune intercepted the Atletico penalty box and got a shot in that almost crossed the line. Soon after that Lekic got hold of the ball and found composure to score his first goal of the season. The Yugoslavian has had an injury plagued season. He came on in this match when the three points were in the bag. He scored a goal fitting of his team's current form.
The auditory experience
These Indian Super League matches are usually covered by commentators who have done work on Premier League fixtures previously. There can be a tendency to associate the two because of this link. The ISL commentators are thankfully less excited than they would be in case of matches in the Premier League. They do add a touch of restraint to the background of fireworks and the sight of squabbling players. Often however they are a part of the ISL public relations machinery. They mouth platitudes when repeated shots of celebrities associated with the clubs are shown to retain the attention of the viewer. They dutifully list the achievements of players and managers to display the extent of talent and experience that the ISL gathers.
Unfortunately, they are also prone to making gaffes as well. During the course of this match they were listing the names of Scandinavian players in the ISL. They managed to forget the name of John Arne Riise, the Norwegian who plays with Delhi Dynamos FC and had an illustrious club career. Perhaps the career was not illustrious enough for the commentators to remember that Norway is a part of Scandinavia.
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In the current case though, Atletico de Kolkata were the benefactor of a rather flattering scoreline. FC Pune City had more shots on target. They hit the woodwork three times and a Kolkata defender had to make a goal line clearance as well. Kolkata had Iain Hume to thank for the decisive touches that propelled them to the semi finals. Often the goal scorer is just the player who happens to put the ball into the net. He is the recipient of acclaim that is better off being put on players who were a part of the build-up.
Hume though worked hard for his goals, running and creating space for himself. This hard work was noticeable in the case of the Canadian international's hat-trick goal. There was individual brilliance from Dejan Lekic to score the fourth goal. He was set up by the tireless Hume who was in his own half shoring up the defence even when his team was two goals up.
Mutu's individual brilliance Pune had their moments of individual spark too. Adrian Mutu had numerous chances. He created one attempt via an overhead kick which went narrowly wide of the goal. That was an impressive physical feat from the 35 year old. What was not breathtaking though was the Romanian's link up play with others. After an invasive run or two, he made passes that were too short. One suspects that tiredness was a reason for this recurring occurrence. Afterwards he would remonstrate. Who he was blaming was not clear. One imagines his team mates wondering whether they would have been better off with a younger Mutu. The fact that he was declared the fittest player of the match is an indictment of the fitness standards of the players around him.
The last minute summed up the match. Pune intercepted the Atletico penalty box and got a shot in that almost crossed the line. Soon after that Lekic got hold of the ball and found composure to score his first goal of the season. The Yugoslavian has had an injury plagued season. He came on in this match when the three points were in the bag. He scored a goal fitting of his team's current form.
The auditory experience
These Indian Super League matches are usually covered by commentators who have done work on Premier League fixtures previously. There can be a tendency to associate the two because of this link. The ISL commentators are thankfully less excited than they would be in case of matches in the Premier League. They do add a touch of restraint to the background of fireworks and the sight of squabbling players. Often however they are a part of the ISL public relations machinery. They mouth platitudes when repeated shots of celebrities associated with the clubs are shown to retain the attention of the viewer. They dutifully list the achievements of players and managers to display the extent of talent and experience that the ISL gathers.
Unfortunately, they are also prone to making gaffes as well. During the course of this match they were listing the names of Scandinavian players in the ISL. They managed to forget the name of John Arne Riise, the Norwegian who plays with Delhi Dynamos FC and had an illustrious club career. Perhaps the career was not illustrious enough for the commentators to remember that Norway is a part of Scandinavia.
