It has been a moving week in the Indian Super League (ISL), with the seven games over the last five days providing indications that there could be a number of players in the title race, even as there was further misery heaped on to one of the ISL's most popular clubs.
We muse, on games 34 to 40 of the ISL.
Mumbai City lead the way in congested top half
Just four points separate the top six in the ISL at this point in the season. For all its shortcomings, this season will provide something the top tier of Indian Football hasn't seen for a while - a multi-horse title race.
Leading that race right now is a horse that not many would've backed at the start of the season - Mumbai City FC. After a 1-0 win against Mohun Bagan in Kolkata, Mumbai City announced to the rest of the ISL that they weren't just dark horses in the title race, they were here to control their own destiny.
That first half against Bagan, in particular, was a Jorge Pereyra Díaz masterclass. Their attack boiled down to him. He had one of those days, everything stuck, every decision he made proved to be the correct one. Eventually he got neither a goal nor an assist, as PN Noufal scored the winner, assisted by Joni Kauko. However, without Pereyra Diaz, that move would never have come to fruition in the first place. The masterclass from the Argentine led the way, as Mumbai City showed in Kolkata that they might now be the team to beat.
Blasters stare down the abyss; but derive hope from Mohammedan
Only a shade over 2,800 fans turned up in Kochi to watch the Kerala Blasters' game against Punjab FC. The usual 30,000+ others who stayed away would've been patting themselves on their backs for staying away, after that first half from hell for David Catala's side.
Goalkeeper Arsh Anwar Sheikh begged to be sent off with rash dives at attackers' feet twice, the second of which resulted in a goal. Hormipam Ruivah lost his bearings and sent a pass straight in the direction of Bede Osuji. No Blasters player thought it would be prudent to get within a few metres of Dani Ramírez, as he followed up from close range after a long shot hit the post. Those are basics, the Blasters are just not good at them. The attractive football, the goals, the wins - all that can come later.
This is a team that struggles at the basic building blocks of football, and that's why the fear of relegation is real, even if Mohammedan Sporting exist. As it stands, the reason why the Blasters stay up won't be much to do with themselves. It would be because Mohammedan are, expectedly, worse than them.
Goa scrap like a typical Manolo team
FC Goa are one of only two teams in the league, along with Mumbai City, who are unbeaten in the league so far. Given the upheaval at Goa before the start of the season, with four of their foreigners having had to leave due to the uncertainty, it's a commendable achievement so far.
It's a team that plays like every Manolo Marquez team has, since he's come to the ISL. They're plucky, they're difficult to break down, and they keep creating moments for themselves in games, like Sandesh Jhingan's equalizing header in their 1-1 draw against Chennaiyin FC. It's a credit to Marquez and the changes he made that Goa never panicked even when they were 1-0 down late on, and created more than one big chance in that period.
A charge towards the title may or may not happen later on, but FC Goa have certainly done their coach proud in these opening six games.
Kashi need to cut their losses with Tarres
When you make a tradeoff with having one outfield foreigner less in favour of playing a foreigner in goal, the returns need to be top-notch. Inter Kashi are feeling the exact opposite of that with Lluis Tarres, whose mistakes are now entering unfathomable territory.
Against Bengaluru, Tarres made two errors - one while coming out to deal with a cross and one while trying to pass out of the back. Both resulted in goals, not his first errors leading to goal this season. In fact, Tarres has been the most error-prone goalkeeper in the league this season, with multiple lapses in judgement not going punished too.
They've got some good players elsewhere, like David Humanes, Alfred Planas, Sergio Llamas and Nauris Petkevicius, one of whom they've had to sacrifice in every game so far. It's been awful from Tarres, and the time for change is now.
Mohammedan show neighbourly love to East Bengal
The joint-biggest win in ISL history, and it really could have been more. It could have been whatever East Bengal wanted it to be. It could have been whatever East Bengal decided to do with the several gifts that were handed to them by Mohammedan SC. In the end, Oscar Bruzon's side scored seven.
Three of them were penalties, one came from a long shot that slid under the goalkeeper, two came from set-pieces that were defended comically.
You only beat what's put in front of you, and East Bengal did that with aplomb, but when you looked at Mohammedan in that game, you wondered where, and if, they were going to get even a point from.
Odisha, Delhi show glimpses of potential
For a side that began pre-season training only after the season had begun, Odisha FC play some punchy, positive football. TG Purushothaman is using the resources he's got to maximise the output he can get from this Odisha team.
Against NorthEast United, that maximization came in the form of Rahul KP's pace being a constant get-out-of-jail card for them. Even though, it was only against ten-man NorthEast United, there's so much for Purushothaman to be encouraged about. Rahul and Rahim Ali have built a solid partnership in attack, and so have Rohit Kumar and Puitea in midfield - great signs for them.
And so too, SC Delhi. A draw against Mumbai City earlier in the season has now proved to be no flash in the pan, as Thomas Tchorz's team produced another good result, with a 1-1 draw in the first home game of the season against Jamshedpur FC. However, the bigger positive for SC Delhi was the crowd that showed up. The 6,732 in attendance were still dwarfed by the enormity of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, but it's a start. A superb start for a club looking to build their identity as the capital's own.