Yet another Indian Super League season has now come to an end and this 10^th one concluded with Mumbai City FC winning the ISL Cup. The Islanders lost to Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the final game of the league stage to lose out on the Shield but gained some revenge with a 3-1 win in the Final on May 4.

Following Mumbai’s triumph, we decided to look at how they stacked up with the last two cup winners, Mohun Bagan and Hyderabad FC. How different or similar were the three? Let’s find out.

MCFC certainly were the best at keeping the ball among the three and ranked first for possession in the 2023-24 campaign as well. HFC, on the other hand, were down at sixth back in 2021-22 and were the only one here to not even get to 50%. They were comfortable conceding possession and it shows there is more than one way to skin a cat.

While the Nizams didn’t hold on to the ball as much as the other two, it didn’t stop them from finding the back of the net at a better rate. It was MBSG who struggled in that regard, averaging just 1.2 goals per game. What played a significant role in that, was the Mariners being incredibly inefficient in front of goal. They had a conversion rate of 7.87%, which ranked second from bottom in the league that season.

For some context, MCFC were at 13.59% this past season. As for the Islanders, they officially were credited with 50 goals, but they were awarded a 3-0 win over JFC, who violated the league’s foreign players limit. The actual game ended 1-1, so we’re only considering 48 in 25 total games here. Let’s also take a look at how these teams scored their goals.

At least 70% of the goals came from open play for all three teams, with the Islanders seeing nearly 80% of their goals coming via that route. The Nizams, meanwhile, were the more reliant of the trio on set plays.

Meanwhile, on the other end, an interesting point to note is that MCFC did not concede a single goal from corners or free kicks this past season, which was quite impressive. They were not the best defensive unit among these three, though.

The Mariners only let in 0.8 goals per game en route to winning the cup in 2022-23. They didn’t concede a single goal in the knockout round or the semifinals. Both the goals they conceded in the final, weren’t from open play either. When it came to defensive actions, MBSG proved to be the most active there as well.

MCFC having more of the ball did, in turn, mean fewer defensive actions. As we saw, though, it certainly didn’t lead to them having any issues at the back as such. What’s fairly clear from all of what we saw above, is what we mentioned earlier: there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Featured Pic Credits: Hyderabad FC and ISL