I-League Media Report

MUMBAI: Mumbai FC took a big step towards safety after they recorded a hard-fought 2-1 win over 10-man Kingfisher East Bengal in the Hero I-League at the Cooperage on Wednesday. The win takes Mumbai FC to sixth on the table with 21 points from 19 matches and are three points above Goan giants Dempo and Salgaocar in the relegation battle. East Bengal, meanwhile, are fourth with 26 points.

Mumbai began with a lot of intent and won a free kick at the edge of the box in the second minute after Taisuke Matsugae was brought down by Sukhwinder Singh. Paresh Shivalkar’s curling right-footer found the top corner, giving goalkeeper Abhijeet Mondal no chance to pull off a save. East Bengal coach Eelco Schattorie said it was a ‘stupid’ goal to concede. “We had decided who will be in the wall during set pieces, the tallest player had to be there..it was written on the board in the dressing room. But I saw a completely different wall on the field. The players were indisciplined and that cost us,” he said.

Buoyed by the early goal, Khalid Jamil’s side continued being on the offensive. They doubled their lead in the 14th minute after Climax Lawrence played a beautiful through ball that fell in the path of Josimar da Silva. The Brazilian beat the offside trap and slotted it past an onrushing Mondal. Mumbai could have tripled their lead but Taisuke’s header in the 24th minute hit the cross bar.

Schattorie introduced Leo Bertos for Sukhwinder and East Bengal started to take control of the midfield. They dominated the possession and got the breakthrough in the 42nd minute when Ranti Martins scored off a Bertos assist. Mumbai paid the price for being too defensive and Jamil changed the tactics in the second half, ordering his players to play more counterattacking football.

East Bengal tried but couldn’t breach the Mumbai defence, with Chika Wali holding the back line well. Bertos picked up two yellow cards in the second half to reduce the visitors to 10 men. Mohammad Rafi, who was named Hero of the Match, had an opportunity to seal the tie late in the half but his stinging shot from close range was marvelously saved by Mondal.

Jamil was happy with the win but insisted his side still isn’t safe. “It is an important result for us. Our target was to win the match and after scoring two early goals, we defended very well. It is a good win but we still cannot relax. We have to aim for a victory in our last match against Bharat FC too,” he said.

Hero of The Match: Mohammed Rafi (MUM)