Hat- trick hero Sunil Chhetri keeps Mumbai City Alive.

Sunil Chhetri becomes the first Indian to score a hat-trick in the ISL when he led Mumbai City to a 5-1 win against NorthEast United at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. There was significance in Sunil Chhetri’s performance against the NorthEast United that made him the first Indian player to ever top the scorers chart at any stage of an ISL season. What made it more special was that he became the first Indian to score a hat-trick in the tournament.
Two penalties and a close range volley took the India skipper’s overall tally to six in the season, along with Chennaiyin FC striker Stiven Mendoza, who incidentally, also has a hat-trick to his name.
Nonetheless, his performance was well appreciated by assistant coach Oscar Bruzon who asserted Chhetri has ‘exceeded expectations.’ Bruzon even went further to claim that Chhetri ‘is ready to play in one of the top teams in Europe.’
“Plenty of the top players have come from the higher league in Europe, and Sunil has shown that he’s one above them,” Bruzon said after the match.
In fact, he could have scored more than just three goals. He rattled the crossbar once with a abrasive shot from outside the box and missed two more very close  chances - one a great save by the goalkeeper and the other a header that flew just wide.
In all he had six shots on goal, four on target and the match ball to go with it at the end of the night.
This was his day. A horribly mistimed overhead kick from inside the box - ended up as a handball and penalty for Mumbai, which he converted with ease to complete the hat-trick.
Chettri stressed the importance of three points over his three goals and the need to forget this win, and focus on the next game against Atletico de Kolkata. But there's no doubt that it is Chhetri who has sparked Mumbai City's tournament to life and the fans, at least, will remember and appreciate this performance for some time to come.