Continuing their fabulous form in the Hero Indian Super League 2020-21, Mumbai City FC clinched yet another win over their rivals, Bengaluru FC, 3-1 in the 48th match of this season.
Bengaluru FC’s recent woes of late continue as they have now a hat-trick string of match loses. MCFC, on the other hand, has now won total 7 matches this season, only losing one to the North East United FC.
The deadlock was broken early today, on in the 9th minute. Bipin Singh curved the ball in from the corner into the far post. Only after a couple of touches, it was headed home by the big MCFC defender Mourtada Fall. It was not the best of corners as the ball lobbed towards the far post but the finish was perfect.
The lead was doubled soon after as a bullseye cross from Mandar Rao Dessai fed a rushing Bipin Singh who expertly netted it past the opponent goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. The Islanders exploited the Blues’ lacklustre defence and netted 2 goals even before the first quarter of the match.
The lead helped them play a possession game for the rest of the match but things started getting physical soon enough. Ahmed Jahouh committed repeated fouls and was first booked in the 40th minute. Amrinder Singh did well to save the free-kick that ensued, as he tipped the ball away from the goal from a superb freekick from Cleiton Silva.
The Blues made a double substitution by bringing in Udana Singh and Ajith Kumar in place of Deshorn Brown and Pratik Chaudhari, in an attempt to reduce the deficit. However, the goal came in a little too late in the 79th minute from a penalty spot-kick. Cleiton Silva was fouled by Fall in the penalty area which Sunil Chhetri made no mistake to convert.
However, all of these were to no avail, as Bartholomew Ogbeche scored on the 84th minute, giving his team a comfortable cushion. It was an aggressive match towards the end as the game saw a total of 6 bookings, one of them a red card.
Jahouh was sent off towards the end of the match in the 86th minute as he went a little too harsh in his tackles even though he was on a yellow. The match ended with the Blues unable to narrow the deficit and the scoreline remained 3-1. Bipin Singh was adjudged the Hero of the match.
The Islanders now top the table toppling ATK Mohun Bagan with 8 straight wins. What is interesting to see is how long are they able to keep their unbeaten run, as they face the Mariners on 11th January. There would be some homework for the Blues to do when they go back into the dismal dressing room.