ISL 2018-19, Mumbai City 1-0 Bengaluru FC: Hits and Flops from the game
A 29th minute strike from Paulo Machado seemed to be enough for Mumbai City FC to inflict a maiden ISL 2018-19 defeat on Bengaluru FC and go top of the table. It was a display of sheer concentration, focus and discipline from Mumbai, who held on to pip fellow title challengers.
The hosts got us underway in the first half and from the first five minutes or so, it certainly looked like a game between the top two sides, as the match was being played at a frenetic pace, with massive intensity. However, the first major chance of the outing fell to BFC.
Full-back Rahul Bheke, who often loves to overload the left flank with his presence, played in Xisco Fernandez, who couldn't time his strike but asked questions of Amrinder Singh. A couple of minutes later, Bheke himself had an acrobatic effort on goal after he was picked out beautifully by Udanta Singh, but the shot went over the bar.
It took 29 minutes to break the deadlock. After a rather positive start, Mumbai lost their way to some extent as Bengaluru pressed for the opener, creating chance after chance. But it was the home team opening the scoring in front of their fans, against the run of play.
Jorge Costa's tactics worked to great effect because his side focused on assembling themselves and knew exactly when to sting Bengaluru on the break. With just three passes, Paulo Machado capped off a deadly counter-attack.
BFC held more of the ball and tried to carve open a formidable Mumbai defence, but they were probably missing the presence of a focal point in Miku.
The second half started on a bright note as well, with both sides having a shy on goal. While Moudou Sougou's tame effort tested Gurpreet, Sunil Chhetri struck a soft volley to Amrinder. 15 minutes into the second period; there was a lot to talk about, but neither side was able to take the game by the scruff of its neck.
Mumbai's spearhead then finally found himself on side, but Gurpreet was equal to his fine-tuned effort. A few chances went here and there, but Jorge Costa's side held their nerves and kept their shape to claim all three points.
On that note, let's take a look at 5 players who experienced contrasting fortunes at the Mumbai Football Arena.
#5 Hit: Rahul Bheke
As usual and as always, Bengaluru's Rahul Bheke was at it. Despite having a long winter break, the full back showed no signs of anything less than 100%.
He was at the end of most of the chances his side created. The versatile defender exploited the left wing time and time again, overlapped the wingers and sprayed a host of crosses into the box. He was always at it, be it at attack or defence.
The 28-year-old occupied the right positions and was also rather safe at the back. He disallowed crosses to come in and portrayed solidity by ensuring there were more side passes than fierce deliveries into the box. Despite manning advanced positions, he tracked back extremely well.