A 10-man Mohun Bagan Super Giant withered a late resurgence from Mumbai City FC to beat the latter 2-1 in the final league fixture of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 and won its maiden League Winner’s Shield on Monday. Liston Colaco fetched the lead in the opening half before substitute Jason Cummings found the insurance goal late in the second half.
Lallianzuala Chhangte pulled one back in the 89th minute but Mohun Bagan tightened its defence to prevent any further alteration of the scoreline despite going down to 10 men, when substitute defender Brendan Hamill got red carded in the first minute of added time.
Needing a win, Mohun Bagan’s efforts to find the chink in Mumbai City’s defence bore fruit near the half-hour mark as the host found the lead off a spectacular finish by Colaco. The winger found his touch at the right moment as he collected a low delivery from Dimitri Petratos, outwitted his marker in Mumbai’s Mehtab Singh and fired the shot to the top right corner to bring the galleries alive.
Colaco could well have brought up the lead earlier in the 19th minute when he was set up unmarked inside the Mumbai box by Anirudh Thapa but the upright blocked the Mohun Bagan winger’s header. Mumbai had a chance to equalize in the first-half injury time but Chhangte failed to keep a simple tap in on a Pereyra Diaz assist.
AS IT HAPPENED | Mohun Bagan Super Giant vs Mumbai City FC highlights
Mohun Bagan fell back to defending after the break and the ploy helped its cause as Mumbai City struggled to find its feet in the attacking third. Mohun Bagan virtually ensured the win in the 80th minute when another Petratos assist set up Cummings to make it 2-0. Chhangte narrowed the lead for Mumbai in the 89th minute but the effort seemed to have come a tad too late as Mohun Bagan looked in no mood to let go of the opportunity and held its ground in the eight-plus minutes added as injury-time.
With 61,177 fans turning out in the giant Salt Lake Stadium, the win ultimately ended the jinx for Mohun Bagan who had lost six while drawing the other two in the previous eight meetings with Mumbai City in the ISL. Having lost the season’s previous meeting 2-1 while visiting Mumbai in December last year, Mohun Bagan SG managed to find revenge at the right time and made it memorable for its fans.
In the final count, Mohun Bagan tallied 48 points from 22 matches and edged past Mumbai City (on 47 points) to reach the top of the standings. Apart from lifting the glittering Shield, Mohun Bagan, who is also the defending knock-out champion of the ISL, earned a ticket to the AFC Champions League 2.
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