How Jason Cummings' creative spark has uplifted Mohun Bagan with Greg Stewart's dip in form?

Mohun Bagan sit at the top of the ISL table.

Jason Cummings produced a memorable display to inspire Mohun Bagan’s 4-0 thrashing of Mohammedan Sporting in the Indian Super League (ISL). The Australian forward might not have gotten into the scoresheet himself, yet he bagged two assists and ended up claiming the Man of the Match award too.

The 29-year-old has been forced to tweak his role and responsibilities since Jamie Maclaren’s arrival. With Macca taking up the no.9 role on a permanent basis, Cummings has rarely played as the no.9. Rather than being demotivated by that, the Australian ace has worked hard to excel in a different role.

He has done an especially admirable job of providing an alternative creative outlet for Mohun Bagan at a period when Greg Stewart’s form has fallen. Stewart might’ve started the season strongly, getting five assists in the first six games, but he has failed to create major goals since then.

Cummings has ensured that the Mariners haven’t suffered because of that, with his creative influence inspiring their push for the ISL league shield title. Here is how Cummings’ creative threat has elevated Mohun Bagan.

Set-piece threat

Even though Cummings might naturally be a centre-forward, that doesn’t stop him from trying his own in set-piece situations. Against Mohun Bagan, the 29-year-old’s assists came from dead-ball situations and were influenced by his excellent delivery.

He is capable of swinging in really dangerous passes into the final third, making it easy for his teammates to convert on these opportunities. Cummings has that quality and awareness of exactly which area to put the ball into to enhance Mohun Bagan’s goal-scoring capability in such situations.

With Mohun Bagan scoring the most goals (14) for any team from set-pieces in the ISL this season, a reason for their dominance in those situations has been because of excellent delivery from Cummings & co.

Excelling in a newfound role

Jose Molina probably deserves applause for being able to get the very best out of Jason Cummings as well as helping him transition into this new role with relative ease. Cummings, who played as a centre-forward in his first season with the Kolkata giants, was moved to a different role after Mohun Bagan’s 2-1 loss to FC Goa.

Starting from the 3-1 win over Punjab FC, Cummings was played just off the cuff of Maclaren in the two-man forward line. The 29-year-old Australian star began to play in a shadow striker role, almost as a 9.5 – something that helped him get way more touches of the ball and start inspiring the Mariners’ attacking pattern with ease.

To his credit, Cummings looks much more motivated and refreshing in this role just behind Maclaren, as he’s able to create more chances for his fellow forwards and also ease the pressure on Maclaren having to drop deep to get stuff done.

The deadly precision of his creative threat

Cummings has made 18 appearances for the Mariners in the ISL so far this season, in which he’s managed to provide three assists. He has created 19 goal-scoring chances for the Kolkata side so far, which is actually quite lower than his peers. Indeed, the likes of Dimi Petratos (32 chances), Greg Stewart (29 chances) and Manvir Singh (20 chances) have all created more chances than the Australian forward so far.

However, what helps Cummings stand out is just how precise the quality of his creative threat has been. That is because despite having created 19 chances, he still has three assists and is averaging an assist every six chances created.

In comparison, Petratos also has three assists despite creating more often than Cummings. Manvir has the same number of assists as Cummings despite having created one more chance than him. Jason is really helping his teammates get at the end of major goal-scoring chances with his final passes and raising the overall goal-scoring threat of his entire team.

If able to maintain this good form until the end of the season, it won’t be surprising if Cummings ends the campaign on the top of the assists tally.

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