The fascinating thing about ISL 2016 is that with 12 league games to go, none of the teams have taken a major step to the semifinals of the competition. A far more surprising thing is the current top four in ISL 2016 points table do not even know if a knockouts berth is assured for them this time around.
Nevertheless, some of the last six matches of the previous week turned out to be an instant classic and continued bringing eyeballs back to the Indian Super League. If CK Vineeth turned out to be the hero of Kerala Blasters so far, Diego Forlan, with his stupendous performance, has become the hero of Mumbai City FC.
The Uruguayan football legend scored a sensational hat-trick for the ISL side against Kerala Blasters at the Mumbai Football Arena this past week, to give his side a massive 5-0 victory. All those who have followed Forlan for years, know what the hotshot striker is capable of and the Indian Super League very much needed an inspirational performance from him.
Check out the goals from Forlan, which included a world-class free-kick.
Just a reminder, the 37-year-old is a former Premier League winner with Manchester United and a Europa League winner with Atletico Madrid. Forlan has also inspired his national team to win the Copa America 2011 and is also the winner of the golden ball in the FIFA World Cup 2010.
"Forlan is not just scoring goals but he is also playing better, getting involved in the development (build-up) of the game," mentioned Mumbai City FC coach Alexandre Guimaraes. "He is showing his character to all team-mates. He is a guy who comes here to win and is showing that. Such characters are contagious and the other guys can learn from him.
"It was also very important to have one night that he had today."
Besides the Forlan magic, another match that stole limelight in ISL 2016 last week was the one between FC Pune City and Delhi Dynamos in Pune. Antonio Habas' men won the seven-goal thriller and created a major opening for them to qualify for the ISL 2016 semifinals.
Catch the highlights from the match HERE.
ISL 2016 points table (as on November 21)
1. Mumbai City FC -- 19 points from 12 games.
2. Delhi Dynamos -- 17 points from 11 games.
3. Atletico de Kolkata - 15 points from 11 games.
4. FC Pune City - 15 points from 11 games.
