There’s no stopping Mumbai City.
Having won their last match against Bengaluru FC 4-0, Des Buckingham’s side hammered hosts NorthEast United FC 3-1 and went atop the table of the ninth edition of Indian Super League (ISL) at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Friday.
Barring a poor pass in the first half that resulted in NEUFC’s only goal of the match by Parthib Gogoi, it was another impressive show by the Mumbai side. Greg Stewart once again played a vital role as they completely dominated the hosts.
They enjoyed 64% possession, had 13 shots on target compared to NEUFC’s two and completed a mind-boggling 603 of 690 passes. With this win they have 18 points, two more than second-placed Hyderabad FC, from eight matches.
As for NEUFC, they remained at the bottom of the table with zero points having lost all their seven matches, a new low. Although the Marco Balbul-coached side was unlucky to concede the penalty early in the first half, they couldn’t keep up with their opponents as the game progressed and were clearly the second-best team on the day.
Earlier, Mumbai City took the lead as early as the 10th minute after Stewart won a penalty in the seventh minute after being fouled by NEUFC No. 7 Rochharzela. The hosts were unlucky though as highlights showed Stewart was fouled well outside the box. It was the momentum that made him fall inside. However, Ahmed Jahouh had no trouble scoring off it. The No. 10 went straight and slotted it into the top of the net as the NEUFC goalkeeper Mirshad Michu dived to his left.
Seven minutes later it was NEUFC who got lucky and equalised following a terrible miss pass from Mumbai’s Mehtab Singh.
Mehtab’s shot from his own half went straight to Romain Philippoteaux, who was running back towards the centreline. A bit stunned, the Frenchman laid it perfectly in front of Gogoi, who made a great run past the defensive line, kept his composure and slammed the ball into the net.
The goal gave the home fans something to cheer about. But their joy was short-lived as Mumbai restored their lead in the 28th minute. It was an inch-perfect cross from Stewart from just outside the box on the right flank and Bipin Singh had no trouble finding the target with his header from close range.
A minute into the first-half injury time, Bipin came close to scoring again. His shot was blocked by the NEUFC goalkeeper, but Jorge Diaz was at the right place at the right time and knocked the rebound into the open net to complete the scoreline.