Match Report: Mumbai FC vs Bengaluru FC - Blues fall to first defeat of the season in Mumbai
Mumbai: An out-of-sorts Bengaluru FC crashed to their first defeat of the season after a pair of freak goals from Arata Izumi (5) and Minchol Son (11) gave Mumbai FC a 2-0 win at the Cooperage, on Sunday.
Bengaluru got off to the worst possible start when a stroke of luck saw Arata hand the hosts a lead in the 5th minute. A scramble in the box that the Bengaluru defence failed to get rid of allowed the ball to fall to Arata. The midfielder’s shot took a big deflection and rolled past a wrong-footed Lalthuammawia Ralte to make it 1-0.
It took only seven more minutes before the Blues conceded another freak goal, this time the ball catching defender Son’s outstretched leg and looping over Ralte, who was off his line, from 35 yards out.
Looking to wipe out the deficit, Bengaluru began stitching moves in the final third only to carelessly give away possession. Curtis Osano had a brilliant moment in the 17th minute when he set off on a run through the middle that saw the defender beat as many as four Mumbai players only to see his strong shot on target being saved by a diving Pawan Kumar.
Westwood, in a bid to swing things around, started the second half with two changes – Udanta Singh and Thoi Singh for Sunil Chhetri and Alwyn George. And both the substitutes had the best chances of the second half only to inexplicably fire wide from close after working themselves into good positions.
Bengaluru were forced into a change after Eugeneson Lyngdoh limped off following a rash tackle from Mumbai defender Shrikant Ramu. With 18-year-old Malsawmzuala partnering Shankar Sampingiraj, Bengaluru switched flanks to deliver some good crosses into the area but were unable to apply the finishing touch as Mumbai held on for a win.
The defeat does not change the way the table looks with Bengaluru still leading with 9 points from 4 games but Westwood’s boys would do well to shrug off the setback as they travel to Kolkata where they play East Bengal on Saturday.