The Indian Super League was back with a bang in its opening week with over 22 goals across six games. Mumbai City FC began their title defense with a dominant victory over rivals FC Goa whereas ATK Mohun Bagan FC and Bengaluru FC earned a hard-fought 4-2 victory against Kerala Blasters FC and Northeast United FC respectively.
With the rule of only 4 foreign players allowed to play in a team, there have been some stunning debuts for the local boys. So, without any further ado, let’s have a look at our Man’s Life ISL Team of the Week.
GK: Mohammad Nawas – Mumbai City FC
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With the departure of Armrinder Singh, young Mohammad Nawas had huge boots to fill but the 21-year-old kept his cool in goal and made some big saves to help Mumbai get away with a clean sheet. Nawas was not only good with his hands but was also good with his distribution which helped Mumbai to play out from the back.
RB: Naorem Roshan Singh – Bengaluru FC
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With 11 teams in the ISL, BFC had to play twice in game week 1 and in their second match, they suffered a 3-1 loss to Odisha FC. The 22-year-old debutant Naorem Roshan Singh bagged a brilliant assist and left the field with the most chances created (5).
CB: Alan Costa – Bengaluru FC
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The hype around on-loan player Alan Costa is real! The 31-year-old Brazilian picked up a goal and an assist in the opening week of the tournament giving us a glimpse of greater things to come.
CB: Slavko Damjanovic – Chennaiyin FC
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The only team to keep a clean sheet apart from Mumbai City FC in Game week 1 was Chennaiyin FC and most of that credit goes to their latest addition to the squad – Slavko Damjanovic. The Montenegro international was the most accurate passer on the field with a pass accuracy of 91%.
LB: Hira Mondal – SC East Bengal
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Hira Mondal barely put a foot wrong in SC East Bengal’s 1-1 draw against Jamshedpur FC. The ISL debutant is hard to catch when he’s running down the left flank. The only way to stop him was to foul him with him being the most fouled player in the match (5).
CM: Hugo Boumous – ATK Mohun Bagan FC
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A transfer from Mumbai City FC to ATK Mohun Bagan FC did nothing to Hugo Boumous’ title as one of the best midfielders in the ISL. The French international scored a lovely brace against Kerala Blasters on the opening day of ISL. Boumous had only two shots in the game and converted both of them.
CM: Vladimir Koman – Chennaiyin FC
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The 32-year-old Hungarian international, Vladimir Koman was a menace in Chennaiyin FC’s attack in their match against Hyderabad FC. Despite being an attacking midfielder, Koman kept winning the ball for fun and capped off his brilliant performance with a goal from the spot to take all three points home.
CM: Javi Hernandez – Odisha FC
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Javi Hernandez who was not known to be a goal-scorer during his time at ATK Mohun Bagan but on his return to ISL with Odisha colors, the Spaniard went on to score two stunning goals which helped Odisha FC get away with a comfortable victory against Bengaluru FC.
RW: Raynier Fernandes – Mumbai City FC
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The unsung hero in Mumbai City’s ISL triumph last season was Raynier Fernandes and he continues to be that way. The 25-year-old winger set up a brilliant goal for Igor Angulo in Mumbai’s 3-0 win over FC Goa. Raynier also had an opportunity to make it 4-0 to the Islanders but ended up hitting the woodwork.
LW: Liston Colaco – ATK Mohun Bagan FC
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Despite losing the ball most times in the match, Liston Colaco managed to bag himself a brilliant goal right from the edge of the box and also played one of the best passes seen in the ISL for Boumous’ first goal.
ST: Igor Angulo – Mumbai City FC
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Igor Angulo picked up right where he left off. The 2020-21 season golden boot winner opened the season by scoring two goals in the span of three minutes continuing his brilliant goal-scoring form in the ISL.
Manager of the week: Des Buckingham – Mumbai City FC
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Replacing Sergio Lobera at Mumbai City as we all know is not an easy job but Des Buckingham has aced it in the opening week of ISL. His attacking approach to the game is what Mumbai City and their fans needed.
[Featured Image Credit: ISL – Indian Super League]
Shashank Iyer