Bidyananda Singh’s eye for goal fetched Mumbai City FC (MCFC) a late winner, firing home the second strike in a 2-1 victory over Jamshedpur FC at the Mumbai Football Arena on Thursday. The substitute slammed the ball first-time from the edge of the box before leaping in celebration.
Teammate Amine Chermiti’s opportunism and athleticism resulted in the equaliser for the home team to cancel out Noe Acosta's penalty kick after just seven minutes into the game.
AS IT HAPPENED
Two substitutions by Mumbai coach Jorge Costa infused life into a scrappy game. Bidyananda and Serge Kevyn came on in the 46th minute, with the former running relentlessly and to get into positions for a shot.
With the changes, MCFC got busy in the rival half while it tightened up things at the back. A thrilling moment saw Chermiti getting at the end of a long free-kick, when he twisted into position for an overhead kick, but the ball flew wide of goal.
Jamshedpur, which was dominant throughout the first half, survived a scare early on when Chermiti put the ball in the net from a corner. But the linesman put his flag up indicating Mohammed Larbi's corner had gone out of play before venturing into the box.
The anxiety in the MCFC backline led to a trip from behind by Mohd Rafique on Farukh Choudhary which led to the penalty.
JFC midfielder Costa calmly converted with a left-footed shot into the corner, sending goalkeeper Amrinder Singh the wrong way.
Subrata Paul, in goal at the other end, was kept busy by the home team but proved capable each time as he dealt with attempts from different angles. Raynier Fernandes saw a shot saved, then looked on as a pass sideways to Larbi was blazed over.
Dangerous on the speedy counter-attacks, JFC caught the blues napping with a long ball from Aitor Monroy into space down the left for Sergio Castel to race away with the ball. The Spaniard deceived one defender and moved away to find space as his first shot was blocked before the rebound was scrambled away. Later, Castel found his header blocked.
MCFC produced the equaliser off a setpiece situation in the second half. Chermiti timed his leap early to connect his header to a corner kick from Diego Carlos as the ball dropped in off the underside of the crossbar.
The rousing comeback win helped MCFC remain in fourth position, moving it two points behind third-placed Bengaluru FC. JFC remains in seventh place (16 points), blown away by the second-half performance from the blues.
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