Rejuvenated Mumbai FC held by fancied Bengaluru FC

Rejuvenated Mumbai FC held by fancied Bengaluru FC

Mumbai, April 7

Mumbai FC, were a completely rejuvenated side when they took on fancied Bengaluru FC in a 15^th round I-League match at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru on Tuesday evening. The Mumbai outfit who had suffered a demolishing 6-0 defeat to Shillong Lajong in the previous round last week, showed that they are made of stronger stuff as they produced a resilient display to play out a creditable 1-1 draw. Playwin is the official sponsor of Mumbai FC.

The Khalid Jamil coached club certainly seemed to have pulled up their socks and got their act together as they defended resolutely against the home side. Having kept the rival attackers in check, Mumbai against the run of play snatched the lead through Rahul Bheke’s header in the 67^th minute and almost returned back with the full three points in the bag. However, they were unlucky to concede a late goal when Bengaluru’s substitute striker Robin Singh scored in the 88^th minute which forced the Mumbai team to share the spoils and two points.

Coach Jamil who had accepted responsibility for the earlier defeat, did well to motivate his boys and bring the best out of them. Also faced with many injury worries, Jamil was forced to tweak his starting line-up and included five new faces for this match. Goalkeeper Nidhinlal A.C., made way for Sanjib Ghosh while Dane Pereira, who wore the captain’s armband, John Coutinho, Allan Dias and Jayesh Rane started in the playing 11.

The Mumbai players perfectly executed the plans of their coach as they played with plenty of grit and gumption to soak in the early pressure as Bengaluru attack spearheaded by skipper Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh, Sean Rooney along with the midfielders Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Rino Anto tried to break down the Mumbai defence which, however, stood rock solid.

Mumbai snatched the lead from a well-executed set-piece in the 67^th minute. Following a corner kick, midfielder John Coutinho with a brilliant swerving shot sent the ball into the Bengaluru penalty area and teammate Rahul Bheke showed great timing as he reached the end of the lobbed ball and firmly headed home past the rival defenders and goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte, nicknamed Mawia, to bring cheer to the Mumbai camp.

With time ticking away and Mumbai heading for a win, Robin Singh dashed Mumbai’s hopes slotting home from close the equalizer. Following Joshua Walker’s flag-kick John Johnson directed the ball towards Robin who coolly tapped in much to the dismay of the visitors.

However, almost immediately Bengaluru’s saviour Robin was red carded for elbowing defender Chika Wali in front of the referee.

Mumbai continued to stay in seventh position with 13points from 12 outings (3 wins, 4 draws) while champions Bengaluru from 13 games are on 22 points and remain in second position behind leaders Mohun Bagan by two points.