I-League: Mumbai FC hold Rangdajied United FC to a draw

Mumbai FC had to hold off the repeated attacks of Rangdajied United FC as their 15th round I-League match ended in a 1-1 draw at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong on Sunday evening. Yohei Iwasaki put the hosts into the lead before Yakubu Yusif equalised, all in the first session.

The two evenly matched clubs took some time in getting a feel for each other and the very cold conditions may have played a part in that. Mumbai FC’s defence, in fact, took nearly half an hour to get their game together with some of their performances bordering on the farcical.

The hosts opened up Mumbai FC’s back line in the 18th minute with a cross from Munmun Lugun that picked out Edmar Figueira unmarked in the box. It was only because the Brazilian needed a couple of seconds to bring the ball under control that his shot was blocked by a defender. The resulting corner, however, brought about the first goal. Munmun on the near side took a good kick and Iwasaki rose to meet the ball and headed it in. Figueira was again in the thick of the action in the 25th minute. In the box, he lost possession of the ball, but a lazy clearance saw Manandeep Singh pounce on it, although his effort was blocked.

Mumbai FC’s lack of control at the back meant that the visitors’ strikers rarely saw anything of the ball. Rangdajied United created a couple more opportunities to double the lead, but without success.

The dangerous Ghanaian veteran Yakubu Yusif restored parity for Mumbai FC in the 36th minute after the Blues defence was caught napping. He was fed a through ball on the left and he sprinted up unchallenged. Darting in at the last minute, he was forced to negotiate a tight angle but placed the ball perfectly past Rangdajied United goalie Subrata Pal. There was further action in the first half, including an almost disastrous lapse by Rangdajied United’s defenders, but neither club could change the scoreline and the two teams went into the break 1-1.

The home team and their thousands of fans thought they had taken back the lead in the 65th minute when a Figueira header off a corner was saved by goalkeeper Nidhinlal, with the hosts convinced the ball had crossed the goa line as the save was being made. The assistant referee was however unmoved by the Blues’ protests and it remained 1-1.

This was Rangdajied United’s best chance of the second session as they made a number of mistakes upfront that stifled their attacks. The hosts received an advantage in numbers when Sandesh Jhingan was shown a red card in the 83rd minute for elbowing Figueira as both went for a header. Rangdajied United pressed to make that count but the Mumbai defence held on stoically for the last few minutes to come away from Shillong with a point.