IANS
MUMBAI, OCTOBER 28
Brazilian striker Andre Francisco Moritz scored Indian Super League's (ISL) first hat-trick as hosts Mumbai City FC thumped FC Pune City 5-0 in a crucial encounter at the DY Patil Stadium here on Saturday.
Indian forward Subash Singh and French defender Johan Letzelter were the other scorers for the Peter Reid-coached winning team.
It was Mumbai's first win of the competition, having lost 0-3 against Atletico de Kolkata in the opening match of the tournament Oct 12. FC Pune City drew their first match 0-0 against Delhi Dynamos Oct 14.
Keen to get first win, the home team were on the offensive right from the beginning of the match and didn't have to wait for long to take lead.Midfielder Andre put the hosts ahead through a well-worked counter-attack on 12 minutes. Pune paid the penalty of committing too many men forward too early in the game.
Andre collected the ball just ahead of the half line before dribbling towards the rival goal, cutting back inside and placing it beautifully past the goalkeeper.
Pune took 10 minutes to muster a meaningful reply through their 'marquee' player Frenchman David Trezeguet but were denied by the crossbar, when his overhead kick thundered off the horizontal.
Pune sensed a chance to come back on level terms quickly but erred in over-committing players high up the pitch. That left their backline exposed and Andre utilised it superbly, putting his team 2-0 ahead on 27 minutes.
India international Lalrandika Ralte's measured corner was opportunistically tapped in by the Brazilian.
And then it was all Mumbai as the visitors, visibly, got rattled by the home team's attacking onslaught. Their defenders were found out of their places and Indian forward Subash, put through on goal by team-mate Jan Stohanzl, got behind the wobbling backline to put the ball in the bottom-right corner on 37 minutes.
The change of ends didn't alter Pune's fortunes and after putting up a brief resistance, their defence was again breached in the 71st minute when Andre completed his hat-trick with a strong right footer.
Johan completed Pune's humiliation on 85 minutes when he neatly side-footed a grounded centre.
Mumbai next face NorthEast United FC at home Oct 24 while Pune host FC Goa Oct 26.
