Mumbai F.C. humiliate Steadfast Rush S.C. 5-0 in under-15 Youth League

by Balbir Singh December 1, 2015

On the 30th of November, 2015, Mumbai Football Club under-15 featured against local-rivals Steadfast Rush Soccer Club at Cooperage Ground in the under-15 Youth League Maharashtra Zone 2015-16. As the full-time whistle blew, the on-field Mumbai F.C. under-15 players, the management and substitutes along with the hatful of supporters present in the stands cheered in enthusiasm on the 5-0 decimation of Steadfast Rush Soccer Club.

Altogether, the score-line perfectly depicts what an insightful analysis of the match would portray; S.R.S.C. were outdone in each-and-every department by M.F.C. Mumbai F.C. under-15’s potent feature throughout the game was their no.10 Kamran Ansari, who not-only ticked his side in the final-third – fluctuating from his midfield role, where he featured on top of a three-man (double-pivot) midfield to his second-striker role, which he bloomed in – but also scored a hat-trick in what was a complete performance on all fronts.

Before kick-off, there was a minute’s silence to honor the death of Mumbai F.C. under-19 player Ashutosh Bane, who died on the 29^th of November ’15 due to cancer. A round-of-applause followed the silence to congratulate him on his achievements.

Mumbai F.C. under-15 didn’t take more than 5 minutes to settle-in the game. The home-side played the first-half of football with great intensity, but lacked conviction in front of goal on regular basis despite the fact: they scored two goals in the first-half. They came-out in the second-half of the game much better, and scored not twice, but thrice to clinch a 5-0 victory. In the first-half, a major drawback from Steadfast Rush Soccer Club’s strikers was that they deployed themselves deeper and deeper with the growing Mumbai F.C. pressure. The strikers, particularly, marked the two holding midfielders, which meant both the center-backs were unmarked, and without any real pressure to deal with, Mumbai F.C. under-15 conducted attacks from the back at consistent basis.

Mumbai F.C. despite enjoying a heaps of possession in an attacking sense, they were equally ineffective in the final-third with players still trying to settle-in their roles. The double pivot in midfield of Clivert Demers and Ishaan Kandwal worked perfectly well with the dynamism of Kamran Ansari playing ahead of them. The M.F.C. striker Archis Kowli combined perfectly with Kamran and at times with Clivert Demers; making runs in-behind or dropping deep to afford space to Kamran to run-into.

These movements were expected from the two center-forwards of Steadfast Rush Soccer Club, but their position never improved in the first-half. The defence and the midfield, on occasions, when looked-up to play a forward pass into, they could only see the opposition center-backs. There were no runs off the ball by the strikers, which could create a positional imbalance for Mumbai F.C.

The opening goal came from Archis Kowli on the 21^st minute mark, when he lashed onto a perfectly weighted throughball from Kamran Ansari. The second goal of the game came through Kamran and Archis, again. This time it was Kamran’s turn to open his goalscoring account! Kamran lets a ball run through to Archis who cuts on to his right and blasts a shot into the goalkeeper, which he couldn’t control; Kamran would continue his run into the box looking for any chance to convert into a goal, and when the keeper couldn’t gather the ball in-time, he sprinted towards the opportunity and banged the ball in the net before the goalkeeper could take a sniff at a second chance to gather the ball. The second-half started in the same fashion as the first-half ended, but Steadfast Rush Soccer Club now had a slight change in game plan which was too little too later, and ultimately it backfired on them.

Learning from their mistakes, the coach asked the two wingers to pressurize the opposition full-backs whilst the two center-forwards stood close to the center backs in order to stop attacks up-front. But, the full-backs turned out to be better in 1v1 situations and a much more mobile midfield helped the defence in tight situations. Now playing with a high attacking line of forwards, Steadfast Rush Soccer Club left their full-backs exposed to the wingers and were being outdone in midfield by Mumbai F.C. as they had a man advantage (3 against 2 midfielders).

Chances created in the second half were better than those created in the first-half. Kamran combined excellently with the wingers and the striker, scoring 2 goals in the process (on 56’ and 71’). Meet Jain also joined the goal-scoring on the 62^nd minute mark after he found himself on the end of a far-post cross from Cliverrt Dem.

A thrilling performance and victory from the home team not only was morale-boosting, but also boomed their goal-difference considerably. The home supports, who supported their team throughout the game were granted with an equally mesmerizing 5-0 win over Steadfast Steadfast Rush S.C. Thanks to an all-round complete team performance from Mumbai F.C. and also, an equally telling individual moments of football.