CHENNAI: Mumbai City FC's aggression, presence of mind and combination ensured a 6-2 victory over Chennaiyin FC in their ISL clash at the JN Stadium, here on Saturday evening. Mumbai were two goals behind but they bounced back to win the match in style.Jorge Pereyra Diaz and Greg Stewart showed the way and the rest of the Mumbai players capitalized on the duo's good work.
Chennaiyin FC began well carrying forward their winning form. Chennaiyin head coach Thomas Brdaric had said before the game that his side were wary of the threat Mumbai posed and urged his players to put pressure on the visitors in order to take advantage.
''Mumbai is a big club. They have good strengths and qualities. We want to give them stress so that they will make mistakes and not make good decisions. And we've to take that to our advantage. We don't have to give them spaces," the German coach had said. However, things didn't go according to plan for the home side.
Marina Machans were also without the services of centre-back Vafa Hakhamaneshi (suspended) and striker Kwame Karikari due to injury. Aakash Sangwan and Julius Duker were expected to step up, but they were just about average today.As the match began both teams key players raided each other's citadel in inclement weather.
In the 19th minute, Chennaiyin drew first blood via a Petar Sliskovic (Chennaiyin) header, which came from a very close range to the bottom left corner, assisted by Rahim Ali following a corner.Chennaiyin forwards carried the momentum to sound the board again in the 32st minute. An Abdenasser El Khayati right-footer shot from the right side of the box to the bottom right corner gave the hosts a 2-0 lead.
Mumbai responded almost immediately. Jorge headed into the bottom right corner to cut down the lead in the 33rd minute.Following that, Anirudh Thapa & Co tried to make in-roads into the Mumbai defense, but met with little luck.
Just before the lemon break, they were caught napping. Goalkeeper Debjit Majumder was the culprit as he attempted to clear the ball and took out Lalengmawia Ralte instead, conceding a penalty in the process. Stewart (Mumbai City) made no mistake from the penalty spot.The CFC think-tank must have been sulking for having given up a 2-0 lead.
In the second half, Mumbai's ploy of playing a lot more aggressively caught the hosts by surprise. They combined well and ensured that the CFC players did not mark them. Just after the interval in the 49th minute, Vinit Rai's right-footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner gave Mumbai a 3-2 lead and they never looked back.