Determined Mumbai down East Bengal 2-1

This was the fourth win for Mumbai FC whose last win was in an away match against Bharat FC in late February. The win also puts the Mumbai club in a relatively safe position from the drop zone and win against Bharat FC in the last match later this month will help them to avoid relegation.

Mumbai FC now tally 21 points from 19 games and climb to 6th position ahead of 7th placed Sporting Club de Goa and 8th placed Shillong Lajong, both with 20 points each. Dempo SC, Salgaocar SC and Bharat FC all with the same number of 18 points occupy the last three positions in the table, but they all have two games remaining.

Paresh Shivalkar from a free-kick and Brazilian Josimar Da Silva with a clinical finish scored the goals for Mumbai FC in the first half while the competition’s leading scorer Ranty Martins scored for Dempo just before the end of the first  half.

Mumbai FC coach Khalid Jamil was satisfied with the result. “We got off to a good start and converted our chances. We came under quite a lot of pressure but we also defended well and held out for a win, which was the most important as we got three points,” said a relieved Jamil.

Jamil’s East Bengal counterpart Eelco Sichhatorie blamed his team for the defeat. “We have to blame ourselves. We made silly mistakes and conceded two stupid goals. But we fought back and had chances but could only score one. If Ranty hand got the second goal we could have finished with a draw,” said a disappointed Schattorie.

Shivalkar provided Mumbai FC the perfect start when he rocked the East Bengal citadel with a well-executed free-kick in the very third minute. Referee Vishnu Chauhan awarded Mumbai FC a free-kick after Mohammed Rafi was fouled on the edge of the box. A confident Shivalkar neatly curled the ball over the defensive wall and into the right corner with the Kolkata Abhijit Mondal goalkeeper rooted to the ground.

Five minutes later Mumbai had another golden chance to hit the target but Josimar’s efforts were not good enough. Jayesh Rane with a deft flick over defender Gurvinder Singh put Josimar Da Silva in the clear, but the latter in an attempt to beat an advancing goalkeeper Modal hastily lobbed way over the horizontal bar.

However, made amends for his earlier miss as he chased Climax Lawrence’s defensive splitting through pass before finishing with a brilliant low shot past goalkeeper Mondal to bring cheer to the over 1,500 Mumbai FC supporters. Later, almost increased the lead but Taisuke Matsugae was unlucky to see his header bounce off the horizontal bar,

Later East Bengal coach Schattorie’s decision to replace Sukhwinder Singh with Leo Bertos changed the complexion of the game. East Bengal started to put pressure on the Mumbai FC defence and Ranty finally found the target in the 43rd minute.

After the change of ends, Mumbai FC once again came out in an attacking mode and both the teams made a number of attempts to add to the scoreline. Mohammed Rafi had the best chance but his shot from close was punched away by Mondal for an abortive corner.

In the final minutes of the match East Bengal went all out in search of the equaliser but the home side put up a dogged defence to ensure they hung on to their 2-1 advantage and seal their win, which was crucial for their survival. The visitors were reduced to 10 man after Leo Bretos received his second booking of the match and was sent to the dressing room in the 88th minute.

Mohammed Rafi of Mumbai FC was declared the Man-of-the-match.

The Mumbai club will host Bharat FC, Pune in the concluding match on Sunday, on Sunday, May 30.

Result

Mumbai FC 1 (Paresh Shivalkar 3rd, Josimar Da Silva 15th ) East Bengal 1 (Ranty Martins 43rd ).