Follow for all HIGHLIGHTS from the ISL clash between Mumbai City FC and Kerala Blasters.
Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt were in attendance today at the Mumbai Football Ground, cheering the Islanders on.Check out the full gallery here.
Mixing work and play! Star couple Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt were spotted in the stands during Mumbai City FC’s Indian Super League clash against Kerala Blasters in Mumbai on Sunday.
Mumbai’s invincible streak continues and it was as emphatic as it gets. Four spectacular goals inside the first quarter killed the game. It kept Blasters at an arm’s distance throughout the game as it pushes it win streak to eight, an ISL streak.
Mumbai is on the verge of achieving its eighth consecutive win of the season, which will be an ISL record. Meanwhile, it is still on the lookout for a fifth to cap its glorious game.
Blasters wins a spate of corners, but it can’t break its duck today. Two more changes for Blasters. Vibin Mohan gets his first minutes in ISL.
Bryce steals the ball and sets up Giannou, but the shot is blocked brilliantly by Fall. Saurav succeeds in getting into the box this time. But his cross is pushed away, again by Fall.
Luna tries to work his way through the middle. But he receives no support from his teammates. Has been the case throughout the game.
Saurav tries to sneak into the box down the left, but Griffiths comes sliding in to cut out the danger. Mumbai has slowed the game down significantly.
KBFC still unable to control possession as Mumbai nicks the ball from it with too much ease. Two more substitutions for Blasters. Giannou in for Ivan and Miranada in for Sahal.
Rahul is subbed off and in comes Saurav Mondal. Blasters survive a goal-line scramble. It is Jessel who scraps the ball inches away from the fifth goal for Mumbai.
KBFC unable to break free, still. Frustration is rising in the Blasters ranks. Luna has tried to drop deeper an initiate actions, to no success so far.
Jahouh is taken off and in comes Fall as Buckingham looks to take the foot off the pedal. This win will take it above Hyderabad at the top of the table.
Blasters strings together a few passes, but it has not materialised into anything. Meanwhile Jahouh attempts a freekick shot from within half, almost putting Gill in a spot of bother. Would have been brilliant if it went in.
Blasters are yet to test Lachenpa properly in this game. But he is forced to come charging out to kick the ball away. Great awareness by the keeper. Another long ball and this time Lachenpa comes out and heads it away.
Second half begins as Kerala Blasters looks to regain a bit of pride, while Mumbai will look to further assert its dominance.
Stewart is taken off with what looks like a niggle. Noguera takes his place. Talk about bench strength. Luna with a chance to let fly from outside the box. But Mehtab flew in with a block. Rahul gets a yellow card and is now suspended for the next game. AND IT IS HALF TIME!! Utter domination by Mumbai City as former Blasters star Diaz stars with two goals and an assist.
Rahul wins a corner down the right. The long corner results in another one, this time from the left. But nothing comes out of it as Mumbai looks set to go into the break with a cleansheet.
Blasters unable to put Mumbai under pressure as the host passes the ball with ease. The game has now eased down.
Mumbai recycles possession again. It has become the first team to score four goals in the first half of this ISL season. Luna wins a freekick for Blasters down the right.
Mumbai is forcing errors out of Blasters and is quick to capitalise on them with ruthlessness. Mongil has looked out of place in the backline for Blasters. Sahal dribbles his way into the byline. But couldn’t pick out a teammate in the box.
Blasters unable to stitch together a proper move as Mumbai continues to dominate the game. Mumbai has converted every single chance it has created so far.
Mumbai now dominating possession as it moves the ball around with sublime ease. Now it works the way through, down the center. Diaz is set through on goal and he holds off a defender, before slotting it under Gill. It is 4-0 now and Mumbai is fading away from the sights of Blasters
Blasters have looked clueless at the face of this onslaught from Mumbai. Buckingham’s side is showing exactly why it has gone unbeaten through this season.
Mumbai is asserting itself quite intensely in the midfield, with some aggressive tackling and targetted pressing. Long ball into the box by Mumbai. Diaz chases it down and sets it up for Bipin, who takes a touch before curling it into the top corner. CARNAGE! AND IT IS 3-0!!
Gill came forward for the cross but was beaten quite easily by Stewart in the air. Luna wins a free kick, but Mumbai defends diligently.
Blasters try to get back into the game as it looks to work its way through. Diamantakos manages to get a shot on though, but Lachenpa has it under control. Diaz with a mistimed tackle on Ivan. But he escapes without punishment. Chhangte pumps in a cross from the right and Stewart heads it in. GOALL!!! Mumbai leads by two now.
Kerala Blasters couldn’t cope with the pace of Mumbai’s movement and passing as the host takes a well-deserved lead.
Bipin Singh gets into the box and forces a save of Gill, but Diaz is there to poke in the rebound. GOAALL!!! Mumbai leads 1-0.
Mumbai with the early aggression as it punches its way through the left. Blasters deals with the low cross. Rapid start from both sides.
It is kick-off as the unbeaten Mumbai City takes on Kerala Blasters, which is running on an eight-game run itself.
PLAYING 11
PREVIEW
The Mumbai Football Arena will witness an intense clash between two high-flying teams when Mumbai City FC squares off against Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League on Sunday.
The Mumbai outfit has had a dream run so far, notching up 30 points from 12 games and is the only side in this edition of the tournament to remain undefeated. With nine victories and three draws, Mumbai City FC comfortably holds the second spot in the points table, while Kerala Blasters, too, has been undefeated in its last eight games and is placed third with 25 points from 12 matches.
In its last outing in October, Mumbai City FC had defeated Blasters, and Kerala hasn’t lost a game since.
“We don’t look at the opposition too much in terms of streaks – the same way we don’t look at our own streak. I’ve spoken about making sure that we just focus on our own game, and preparing ourselves as well as we can to face what will be a very tough and challenging Kerala Blasters side,” Mumbai coach Des Buckingham said.
The focus will be on Lallianzuala Chhangte and Bipin Singh, who fired for the Islanders in their previous outing against Odisha FC. Despite taking off the seasoned Greg Stewart early, Mumbai defeated Odisha, riding on Chhangte’s brace, and in a crucial game, it will be hoping for the two to come good.
The Blasters will pin their hopes on Dimitrios Diamantakos, Ivan Kaliuzhnyi, and Sahal Abdul Samad, who have 13 goals between them so far. The way it managed to turn things around after the defeat against Mumbai in October speaks volumes about the team’s mental toughness. In total 17 appearances, Mumbai City FC won seven times and Blasters on four occasions, while six games ended in a draw.
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