NEW DELHI: Mumbai City FC extended their lead at the top of the Indian Super League table to five points as they dug deep to secure a 1-0 win over SC East Bengal at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Friday. The winning goal was scored by Mourtada Fall in the first half.
The Islanders now have 29 points from 12 games and this result means they have not lost in 11 matches, the longest unbeaten streak in ISL history. The Red and Gold brigade remain in tenth place with 12 points from 13 games.
Their seven-game unbeaten streak might have ended, but the Kolkata giants gave a good account of themselves, especially considering the previous time the two sides met, Sergio Lobera's team had emerged victorious 3-0. The second half was mostly played in the Mumbai half and East Bengal had quite a few chances to equalise.
Danny Fox met a corner and his flicked header missed by a whisker. Anthony Pilkington and Scott Neville both had efforts. The best chance fell to young Harmanpreet Singh. A lofted ball from substitute Aaron Amadi-Holloway was met by the young striker but he could not divert the ball into the net despite being unmarked.
As has been the case throughout the tournament, Mumbai secured the win with their first-half display. Lobera's side specializes in scoring in the first 45 minutes and this was their 11th goal during the period, the most among all teams. Hugo Boumous chipped in a brilliant ball into the box and there was non-existent marking as Fall calmly headed it into the net.
"We were brilliant in the second half. This was a much improved performance and I was happy for my players. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any points. We made several tweaks in the final 45 minutes. The table is tight at the moment and we need a string of wins from here to make it past the group stage," SCEB coach Robbie Fowler commented at the end of the game.
MCFC coach Lobera was not pleased despite the three points. "If I see the result, I'm extremely happy. But on the whole, we were dominated and that's a concern. We had quite a few chances to score a second goal. However, we didn't capitalise on that. If we continue this way, it might be difficult to win future games. East Bengal played really well in the second half. We lost the ball often and made it easy for them."