Mehtab Singh goal proves to be decisive factor

Mehtab Singh's first half goal proved to be decisive in the end as Mumbai City FC (MCFC) secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over Hyderabad FC (HFC) in the ongoing Indian Super League (ISL) Season 2024-25 at the Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai on Saturday.

The morale boosting triumph for the Islanders that came at the back of an unexpected 0-3 humiliating loss to Punjab FC early this week at the same venue, took home valuable three points and continued to extend their domination against the visitors at the back of their fourth win against two by their rivals from 11 ISL outings, while five fixtures have ended in a draw over the years. The Petr Kratky coached MCFC, who are currently the reigning champions, also leapt from the overall standings by four places to sixth place in the 13 team league tournament, with 13 points from nine games (three wins, four draws and two losses).

The visitors showcased a better brand of end to end football, following their rare poor outing against Odisha FC in the previous game, where they had lost by a huge margin of 0-6, it was their second consecutive defeat on the trot and their sixth of the season.  With seven points from nine games from nine games, the former ISL champions Hyderabad FC  coached by Thangboi Singto continue to occupy the 11th position

Earlier Mumbai City made a bright start to the evening and created a plethora of scoring chances right from kick-off. In the fourth minute, local favourite and mid fielder Jayesh Rane played an impressive through ball to Captain Lallianzuala Chhangte on the right as he cut in and took an effort which was saved by the keeper Lalbiakhlua Jongte.

The home side built on the momentum and played an aggressive brand of football in the first-half. The Islanders almost broke the deadlock in the 12th minute as the ball fell to Jon Toral inside the box who volleyed it towards goal and struck the crossbar off of a deflection.

The first goal of the game came in the 29th minute when center-back Mehtab Singh headed the ball into the back of the net off of a corner-kick taken by his skipper into the far post. The opportunistic Mehtab with his intricate moment lost his marker and made a darting run into the box and scored. With his assist, Chhangte became Mumbai City FC’s outright highest goal contributor in ISL (36 - 21 goals and 15 assists), leaving behind winger Bipin Singh.

Hyderabad FC’s first chance on goal came well into the game in the 36th minute and found it difficult to infiltrate Mumbai City’s final third as the Islanders' backline did its job and ensured they kept a clean sheet.

Hyderabad FC started the second-half strong as fans witnessed some good end-to-end footballing action. Mumbai City kept their composure and maintained their lead.

Bipin Singh, who came on in the second-half, made a commendable individual effort when he dribbled down the middle and fired a shot in the 75th minute but narrowly missed the target. In the 78th minute, substitute Edmilson Correia came close to equalising for Hyderabad FC as his shot struck the far post, however, the referee ruled him off-side. Mumbai City defended in numbers while showcasing great resilience in the dying embers of the game to keep their slim lead.  The host however missed a great opportunity to extend the lead in the six minutes of added time. Chhangte in a counter attack made a darting run from the mid field and in an one on one situation however fired marginally wide of the first post from inside the box, much to the disappointment of his team mates and thousands of home supporters, who however applauded the host team performance soon after the final whistle was blown by the referee.

Lallianzuala Chhangte was however the key performer and proved to be the game-changer for Mumbai City in this game as he came up with the assist for Mehtab Singh. He also created four chances whilst completing five crosses. Chhangte also completed 21 out of his 24 attempted passes in the match.

Mumbai City will travel to Bhubaneswar to face Odisha FC on 5 December whereas Hyderabad FC will host the in-form FC Goa on 4 December.

In another ISL match that was played on Saturday night, table topers Mohun Bagan Super Giant emerged triumphant in a closely-fought 1-0 encounter against Chennaiyin FC at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium in Kolkata. The home side rode on a powerful strike by Jason Cummings to land the decisive blow in a game that saw Chennaiyin FC come close to breaking the deadlock multiple times.

Results:

Mumbai City FC 1 (Mehtab Singh 29’) beat Hyderabad FC 0. (HT 1-0);

Mohun Bagan Super Giant 1 (Jason Cummings 86’) beat Chennaiyin FC 0. (HT 1-0)

Photo Cover : MCFC's Mehtab Singh celebrates after scoring the match winner against HFC at Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai

Photo Above : MCFC's Thaer Krouma dribbling with the ball against HFC's Andrei Alba