Some key stats Mumbai City boast heading into ISL semis against FC Goa

Mumbai City are set to take on FC Goa on 24 April.

Mumbai City FC face a challenging road to winning the 2023-24 ISL title ahead of their semi-final battle against FC Goa. The Islanders came up just short of their third ISL Shield title after losing the crucial final match to Mohun Bagan, but there is a lot more to play for.

Mumbai can keep their dreams of playing in an Asian competition alive by at least winning the ISL Trophy. Before that, however, they need to defeat an in-form, efficient FC Goa side who are also looking for their first-ever ISL playoffs title win under Manolo Marquez.

Fortunately, the Islanders can take confidence from how well they performed at the ISL league stages despite coming up narrowly short in the end. For one, Petr Kratky’s side faced the fewest losses (3) in the league stages – the same as the Gaurs. They also conceded the fewest goals (19) among all the teams in the 2023-24 ISL season, with the mentor’s tendency to switch between a 4-1-4-1 and 4-3-3 formations according to situations working really well.

Kratky has worked hard to ensure that Mumbai City are a rigid, stubborn side to break down. They are currently topping some of the key defensive metrics in the current season, having faced the fewest shots (231) and allowed the fewest shots on target (64) for any side in the league stages. Mumbai City have kept eight clean-sheets so far, the third-highest in the ISL.

But it’s not just their defensive sturdiness that enabled their strong run in the league stages. Kratky ensured that his side played an exciting, proactive style of attacking football and that many players get involved in the attacking moves. As a result, Mumbai City created 216 goal-scoring opportunities in the 22 league games and recorded an admirable 13.42% shot conversion rate. They scored 42 goals, the second-highest in the ISL league stages as well.

What helped Mumbai City stand out from the rest was that they boasted 15 different goal-scorers in the ISL league stages. Jorge Pereyra Diaz (eight goals) is their leading goal-scorer so far. Despite losing the ISL Shield championship by a single point, the Islanders also set the record of setting the second-highest points tally (47 points) in the history of the competition.

When it comes to their head-to-head record against FC Goa, Mumbai City are actually on a 10-match unbeaten run against the Gaurs. They will hope to extend that to 11 and 12 in the upcoming ISL semi-final legs and move into another ISL final to finish the 2023-24 season with a trophy.

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