Playing their first home game of the season, Mumbai City FC rode on goals from Jorge Pereyra Diaz and Lalengmawia Ralte to beat Kerala Blasters FC 2-1 in the Indian Super League on Sunday. The win ensured Des Buckingham’s side remained unbeaten in the competition after three rounds.
It was a feisty clash, which turned rather ugly in the final minutes. The referee handed out as many as 10 yellow cards and two straight reds in the match as tempers flared on the pitch and in the dugouts.
With 10 minutes of added time in the second half, Kerala’s Milos Drincic shoved Mumbai’s Mehtab Singh on the floor and all hell broke loose. Drincic was eventually shown red, as was Yoell van Nieff for his role in the fracas. The hosts managed to bag all three points in the end but it was hardly a good look for the tournament, which is celebrating its 10th season.
Earlier, despite the sultry conditions, there were long queues outside the Mumbai Football Arena before kickoff, with the travelling fans comfortably outnumbering the home supporters. There was a surprisingly high number of police personnel too, perhaps because Nita Ambani and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach were in attendance, and it ensured a high-profile feel for the match.
The action on the pitch, though, wasn’t too exciting in the first half as both teams tried to settle into a rhythm for most of it. The clearest chance came in the ninth minute when Mumbai striker Diaz got at the end of a through ball from the right of the box but was denied by Sachin Suresh from close range.
Chants of “Saachinn… Sachin” sound all too familiar in Mumbai and there was plenty of it once again as the Blasters keeper remained solid in goal.
The home team, however, took control of proceedings around the half an hour mark and kept building pressure from both flanks. They were rewarded soon enough as Diaz tapped in the ball after a scrappy bit of defending by the visitors.
Blasters began the second half more aggressively and ended up finding the equaliser in the 57th minute as Danish Farooq headed home from the centre of the box. But their joy didn’t last for too long as Ralte put Mumbai back in the lead nine minutes later. It was another scrappy goal as the Blasters defenders failed to take control of a seemingly harmless situation.
From thereon, it seemed there was more pushing and shoving between the players than good pieces of play. Mumbai managed to do just enough to hold on as coach Buckingham whisked his players into a corner after the final whistle.
Kerala, who had beaten Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC in their first two games, slipped to fourth position on the points table. While the Islanders, who had beaten NorthEast United before drawing with Odisha, climbed to second.
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