Mumbai City asserted their dominance over East Bengal in a 1 – 0 victory at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday, 13th February. The visitors controlled possession throughout the game and had plenty of opportunities to win by a bigger margin. Meanwhile, the hosts did not even manage a single shot on target and seemed tentative when going forward. The only goal of the game came off the foot of Iker Guarrotxena, who was making his first ISL start for the visitors.
East Bengal welcomed Mumbai City to the Salt Lake Stadium on the back of a five-game winless run in the Indian Super League. Meanwhile, Mumbai City themselves were looking to return to winning ways after suffering only their second loss of the season. They threw away a 2 – 0 second-half lead against Jamshedpur last time out.
The home side kicked off the fixture, but they hardly had a significant touch of the ball in the first fifteen minutes. Mumbai City, with their characteristic patient build-up, controlled possession as they looked for inroads. The Islanders came close in the 5th minute, after a brilliant buildup saw Iker Guarrotxena redirect a cross on goal. However, Prabhsukhan Gill, who was well-positioned at his near post, threw out a strong hand to divert the ball around the post.
East Bengal gradually mustered up the courage to sacrifice players going forward and they created their first opportunity, off the counter, in the 19th minute. Felicio Forbes found himself one-on-one against a Mumbai City defender down the right-hand side, with Naorem Mahesh – making his 50th ISL appearance – streaking down the middle. However, Felicio chose to cut inside himself, and his subsequent effort was blocked.
The visitors scored their deserved opener six minutes later. The ball was floated into the box by Alberto Noguera and the East Bengal back-line, stepping up to play the Mumbai City forwards off-side, left Guarrotxena unmarked in the middle. The Spaniard, given the time to settle the ball and turn, poked the ball past Prabhsukhan Gill and wheeled off to celebrate his first goal in Islander colours.
Guarrotxena nearly doubled Mumbai City’s lead ten minutes later, when he rattled the crossbar from point-blank range. However, his blushes were spared by the linesman’s off-side flag. The Islanders continued to threaten with crosses from both flanks but were unable to add to the score line before half-time.
The Islanders’ built up patiently, but sometimes to a disagreeable degree. The final two minutes of the half were willed away by Mumbai City passing the ball around the back without any urgency to go forward.
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In the second half, the game opened up a little more as the hosts ventured forward for an equalizer. Yet, East Bengal’s increased desire did not yield any straightforward chances. PV Vishnu provided a spark down the left wing, but his energetic dribbling runs did not extend to a goal contribution.
Mumbai City continued to have the bulk of possession and scoring attempts, but their second half efforts were mostly off-target. In the 90th minute, Lallianzuala Chhangte had a huge opportunity to seal the win for his team, but Prabhsukhan Gill smartly advanced off his line and stuffed him.
Seven minutes later, in the final minute of injury time, Gill’s earlier save nearly proved fruitful. A desperation cross from Mahesh was flapped at by Mumbai City goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa, but the resulting loose ball bounced off an East Bengal head and back into his own grateful arms. Soon after, the final whistle was blown.
Carles Cuadrat and the East Bengal faithful will be worried that their team’s Super Cup form has not transferred over to the Indian Super League. However, they will be pleased that their defense was not breached on multiple occasions given the nature of Mumbai City’s dominance. The hosts remain 10th in the league following this loss but they can advance rapidly if they capitalize on their games in hand.
Mumbai City, still in their transition phase, will be glad to take home all three points. Advancing into the top four, they will hope this win marks a change in trajectory of their ongoing season. Head Coach Petr Kratky will also be pleased by the performance of the two new international signings – Guarrotxena and Thaer Krouma – who had a goal and a clean sheet, respectively.
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