Igor Angulo, Mourtada Fall and Yogor Catatau netted for Mumbai City FC as Cleiton Silva's wonderful free-kick goal proved to be just a consolation for Bengaluru FC.
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Mumbai City FC registered their third victory of the 2021-22 Indian Super League (ISL) season as they beat Bengaluru FC 3-1 at the Bambolim Stadium on Saturday. Igor Angulo opened the scoring for the Islanders from the penalty spot before Cleiton Silva equalized for Bengaluru. The Blues could have taken the lead going into the break, but Sunil Chheteri missed a penalty. After the break, Mumbai City got their nose in front courtesy of a towering header from Mourtada Fall before Yogor Catatau sealed the win for Des Duckingham’s side with their third of the night.
Bengaluru FC came into the match with a clear game plan, with Prince Ibara deployed as the target man and Sunil and Cleiton playing off the tall striker. Head Coach Marco Pezzaiuoli’s strategy nearly gave BFC a dream start inside the opening 30 seconds, but Cleiton’s volley from outside the box rattled the crossbar.
Meanwhile at the other end, Mumbai City took the lead against the run of play after the referee pointed to the penalty spot for Alan Costa handling the ball inside the box. BFC goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s decision not to come out and collect the ball proved to be costly. Angulo stepped up and calmly converted the spot kick. It was the Spanish striker’s fourth goal of the season and he now leads the race for the Golden Boot.
It wasn’t long before BFC leveled the score. Cleiton won a free-kick just outside the box. The Brazilian stepped up and converted the free-kick with a wonderful right-footed attempt that went past Mohamed Nawaz and into the top corner.
Meanwhile BFC suffered a huge blow around the half-hour mark as Ibara went off with a muscle problem and Edmund Lalrindika came in to replace the Congolese striker. Although Ibara’s substitution forced BFC to change their plans, Lalrindika won a penalty three minutes before the break.
But Chhetri, who stepped up to take the penalty was denied by Mohammad Nawaz. The 21-year-old goalkeeper made a low diving save to his right to keep the score level going into the break. Surprisingly, it was the skipper’s second such miss of the season. That miss proved to be costly as MFC came out all guns blazing in the second half.
Nine minutes into the restart, Ahmed Jahouh sent in a brilliant free-kick from near the half-way-line for Fall to leap above a bunch of defenders and head home. From there on, MFC were on the ascendancy and the Blues looked out of ideas. Raynier Fernandes tested Gurpreet from outside the box before Catatau doubled the lead, six minutes from time.
Left-back Mandar Rao Desai sent in a perfect cross for Angulo inside the box and the striker’s header hit the woodwork. However, Catatau pounced on the loose ball and fired in a low shot past Sandhu to take all three points.
It was Bengaluru’s second defeat in four games and they find themselves languishing at the seventh spot with four points. Meanwhile Mumbai City moved to the summit of the table with nine points from four games.
