ISL 2020, MCFC vs CFC highlights: Mumbai City earns fourth straight win

ISL 2020-21, MCFC vs CFC Live Streaming Updates: Catch the Indian Super League live score updates from the game between Mumbai City FC and Chennaiyin FC played at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim.

Mumbai City FC players celebrate Adam le Fondre's goal against Chennaiyin FC on Wednesday.

Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live blog of the Mumbai City FC vs Chennaiyin FC ISL 2020-21 match.

--

That's the end of today's coverage of the ISL. We will be back tomorrow when SC East Bengal takes on Jamshedpur FC in search of its first points in the ISL. ( PREVIEW ) Until then, it's good night from us.

MATCH REPORT:

--

Sergio Lobera, who has made history by leading Mumbai City to four straight wins for the first time in its history, was a happy man. "I am happy because today we won a very difficult game against a very good and competitive team," he said post the game.

The Spaniard noted that his side looked a tad tired as it had played only three days ago. "We were very tired in the last minutes and that is normal when you are playing two games in three days. It was difficult to press the opponent team but I think the team worked very hard."

Talking about the first half, where his side conceded its first goal in four matches, he said: "In the first half there was a lot of spaces..it was difficult for us. They have quality players like Rafael Cirvellaro and Lallianzuala Chhangte. Sometimes you suffer when you press the opposition team. We need to improve in this kind of situation and have the ball and play in our style. We played against a very good team today and it is a big win for us."

Chennaiyin FC coach Csaba Laszlo said: "I can't tell you how disappointed I am. The boys did a good job. I am tired to go back to the referees and talk (about decisions that did not go our way). We had some good chances to score and others the opposition played well. Two big mistakes from us (led to the goal). If every game is like this in Indian football, then fans can be happy. It was a good and entertaining football game."

Talking post the game, Mumbai City FC captain Amrinder Singh said: "It was a difficult game. We played only three days ago and had to recover quicky. Everyone played well and I am very proud of the team."

FULL TIME: Mumbai City FC rides on goals from Hernan Santana and Adam le Fondre to earn a hard-fought 2-1 comeback win over Chennaiyin FC. This is the side's fourth successive win.

ISL 2020-21 points table

The result sees Mumbai City consolidate its position on the top if the ISL points table with 12 points from five games, while Chennaiyin FC remains on the eighth spot.

Mumbai City FC players celebrate during ISL 2020-21 their clash against Chennaiyin FC.

90+6' Inches! Mere inches away! The corner is floated into the box and Sylvestr connects really well but his header zooms mere inches above the crossbar. That has to be it for Chennaiyin.

90+6' Chennaiyin FC wins a corner, and this surely has to be the last play of the game.

90+6' More late drama! Rowlinn fouls Dhanpal on the midline and Chennaiyin has a free-kick. Chennaiyin goalkeeper Kaith a races ahead for what appears to be the last chance of the game.

90+4' How close was that!? Chhangte floats in a cross that is not dealt with by the Mumbai City defence and Sylvestr is allowed a shot on goal, which strikes Fall on the shoulder. The Chennaiyin players appeal desperately for a penalty, but the referee does not point to the spot. 

90+2' Bipin's misery in front of goal continues as he skies yet another chance. Boumous finds him with a neat pass and Bipin has all the time and space to pick his spot but ends up missing the target in embarrassing fashion.

90' Another booking as Santana, who is on the bench, is shown a yellow card. Perhaps he had something to say in the Boumous vs Crivellaro clash a couple minutes ago. The fourth official has signalled for six minutes to be added on.

88' It's all happening here! Boumous now picks up a yellow card for an altercation with Crivellaro.

87' A late blow for Chennaiyin as Isma pulls up injured. The striker, within seven minutes of coming on, seems to have pulled his hamstring and looks like he won't be able to continue. Chennaiyin, having made all five subs, will have to finish the game with 10 men.

86' Changes for Chennaiyin FC as Germanpreet is replaced by Edwin Vanspaul and Thoi Singh comes on for Jerry.

82' Fall comes to his side's rescue twice in a minute as Chennaiyin is throwing men ahead now in search of an equaliser.

81' Final changes for Mumbai City FC: le Fondre is replaced by Bartholomew Ogbeche and Ranawade is taken off for Rakip.

80' Strong save from Amrinder! Chhangte gets on the end of a pass and unleashes a powerful drive, but the Mumbai City custodian blocks it with ease.

79' Double change for Chennaiyin: Esma and Dhanpal replace Fatkhullo and Tangri respectively.

77' Chennaiyin will only have itself to blame here. That was a poor piece of defending and the side's vulnerabilities from set-pieces have been exposed again.

75' GOAL TO MUMBAI CITY! Le Fondre scores to put Mumbai City ahead for the first time in the game. Chennaiyin FC concedes from yet another set-piece as Bumous' free-kick is flicked on by Rowlinn and Jahouh before le Fondre busts the net with a fine finish.

72' Change for Mumbai City - Vignesh is replaced by Tondonba Singh.

Did you know? Chhangte assist for the opening goal was his first one in Chennaiyin colours! More on that here -

70' How did the referee miss that? Jahouh hacks down Fatkhullo in the box and the referee sees no foul. Chennaiyin will consider itself very unlucky here. Jahouh, once again, escapes without a booking.

69' Amrinder gets away with it! He makes a mess of a clearance and it finds Fatkhullo outside the box, but the striker's first touch lets him down.

65' Back to back bookings for Mumbai City as Mehtab picks up a yellow card for a foul on Fatkhullo.

63' Vignesh gets a yellow card for a terribly late tackle that wipes out Sabia.

61' Chance! Sylvestr does really well to lay it for Germanpreet at the edge of the box but the Chennaiyin midfielder's strike sails into the stands.

60' We've reached the hour mark and there's still everything to play for in this game. Mumbai City has begun the second half better and looks mencing on the counter.

57' Tangri gives away a cheap free-kick and chance for Mumbai City here. Boumous' strike is parried away by Kaith and Bipin decides to have a go from distance...but the shot is nowhere remotely close to the taarget.

53' Double change for Mumbai City: Cy Goddard comes on for Raynier, while Mehtab Singh replaces Santana.

51' Mumbai City's goal-scorer Santana is on the ground and might have to be replaced soon. Raynier, too, is struggling.

48' Penalty shouts as Crivellaro is brought down in the box but the referee says nothing doing.

46' KICK OFF! And the second half gets underway. We have a booking right away as Reagan picks up a yellow for a foul on Raynier.

What an exciting end to the opening half! Mumbai City FC sneaked a goal in the last minute of injury time to restore parity. Chennaiyin FC looked the better side for large parts of the opening half and took the lead through Jakub Sylvestr in the 40th minute.

However, the lead was short lived as Hernan Santana found the back of the net at the stroke of half-time.

45+3' EQUALISER! Santana nods home a corner to make it 1-1. Boumous' corner is misjudged by Kaith and Santana, unmarked on the far post, heads the ball into an empty net to equalise.

44' Poor play here from Jahouh. He absolutely clatters into Sabia with an extremely late tackle. Surprisingly, its Sabia who gets booked for his reaction and Jahouh gets away with it! 

42' Germanpreet picks up the first yellow card of the game.

40' GOAL! Sylvestr scores as Chennaiyin FC takes the lead. Chhangte is the architect of the goal as he goes on a dizzying run down the right, beating four defenders, before squaring it for an unmarked Sylvestr. The Slovak taps the ball into an empty net to score his first ISL goal.

Jakub Sylvestr celebrates scoring Chennaiyin FC's opening goal.

 

35' What an astounding piece of defending from Jahouh! Sylvestr's shot is deflected and the rebound falls kindly for Crivellaro. The Chennaiyin skipper makes room for himself and brings it onto his preferred left foot but has the ball stolen from him by Jahouh, who makes a vital tackle.

Ahmed Jahouh makes a vital tackle to deny Rafael Crivellaro a shot.

 

33' Ambitious, but no. Crivellaro plays the corner short for an onrushing Reagan, but the shot is nowhere close to the target.

30' The players take a breather as the referee signals for a water break. He's an interesting stat for you - Mumbai City is yet to concede a goal from open play this season! The only goal the side gave away was a penalty against NorthEast United FC in its opening fixture.

25' Golden chance for Mumbai City! Boumous does ever-so-well to carve his way between Sabia and Tangri and lay it for le Fondre. The Englishman unleashes a powerful drive but is denied by Kaith. Bipin gets the rebound and has a go at goal but fails to trouble the 'keeper.

24' Good move from Mumbai City. Boumous releases Bipin down the right and the 25-year-old fires a cross towards le Fondre but Kaith is alert to the task.

20' Looks like that will be Sipovic's last contribution today as he struggles to cope with the groin strain he picked up a few minutes ago. Memo Moura comes on for him.

19' Sipovic nearly got that in! Crivellaro floats a free-kick into the box and Sipovic connects well on the far post but can't find the target and is subsequently ruled offside.

17' There seems to be a rivalry brewing here between Mourtada Fall and Jakub Sylvesr. Fall has sent the Chennaiyin forward to the ground for the third time so far.

15' Chennaiyin FC has looked the better side in the opening quarter of play, creating some good chances along the way. Mumbai City has seen more of the ball but is yet to initiate a proper attack or register a shot.

11' Chhangte twists and turns past his man and is brought down by Jahouh at the edge of the box. This is Crivellaro territory! Fatkhullo takes the free-kick instead and Fall does well to clear the danger.

8' Sipovic makes a fantastic last-ditch sliding tackle to deny Raynier in the box, but appears to have injured himself in the process. Raynier, who recently came back from an injury, is also getting medical treatment.

5' Chennaiyin have had a couple decent chances here in the opening five minutes, giving the Mumbai City defence little time to settle in.

3' Another chance goes begging for Chennaiyin FC. Chhangte latches on to a defensive lapse and races in on goal before firing a poor strike that sails well off target. Crivellaro, who was offering him support, is understandably furious. 

2' Sylvestr with the miss of the season! Crivellaro's corner is flicked on by Sipovic for Sylvestr on the far post and the Slovak misses from a yard out!  He's later adjudged offside.

1' KICK OFF!

7:27 pm: Both teams are out in the middle. Mumbai City line-up in its blue home kit, while Chennaiyin dons its white kit.

7:15pm: The players are done warming up and we're 15 minutes away from action! Stay tuned.

Lallianzuala Chhangte scored seven goals last season and was instrumental in Chennaiyin FC's run to the final. He finished the season as the second-highest Indian goalscorer after Sunil Chhetri.

 

7pm: and Mumbai City FC have played each other 12 times in the ISL group stages so far and two-time champion Chennaiyin has dominated the fixture with six wins.

Here's all you need to know about the MCFC vs CFC rivalry -

6:45pm: Four changes for Mumbai City FC from its 2-0 win over Odisha FC. Adam le Fondre will play as the lone striker while Amey Ranawade, Hernan Santana and Raynier Fernandes return to the starting XI.

Mumbai City FC goalkeeper Amrinder Singh has kept three consecutive cleansheets.

 

6:40pm: Chennaiyin FC coach makes two changes to his side from the previous clash - Germanpreet Singh and Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev start XI in place of Anirudh Thapa and Esma Goncalves. Fatkhullo will be making his first start in the ISL.

6:30pm: Line ups are out!

Mumbai City FC (4-2-3-1)

Amrinder Singh (GK), Amey Ranawade, Mourtada Fall, Ahmed Jahouh, Hernan Santana, Hugo Boumous, Raynier Fernandes, Rowllin Borges, Vignesh Dakshinamurthy, Bipin Singh, Adam Le Fondre.

Chennaiyin FC (4-2-3-1)

Vishal Kaith (GK), Reagan Singh, Enes Sipovic, Eli Sabia, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Deepak Tangri, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Rafael Crivellaro, Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev, Germanpreet Singh, Jakub Sylvestr.

6:15pm: Team news coming up shortly. Here's how we think the two sides will line up today:

Mumbai City FC predicted XI (4-2-3-1)

Amrinder Singh; Mohammad Rakip, Mourtada Fall, Hernan Santana, Mandar Rao Dessai; Ahmed Jahouh, Rowllin Borges; Vignesh Dakshinamurthy, Hugo Boumous, Bipin Singh; Adam Le Fondre

Chennaiyin FC predicted XI (4-4-2)

Vishal Kaith; Reagan Singh, Eli Sabia, Enes Sipovic, Jerry Lalrinzuala; Edwin Sydney Vanspaul, Deepak Tangri, Rafael Crivellaro, Lallianzuala Chhangte; Esmael Goncalves, Jakub Sylvestr.

Chennaiyin FC comes into the game on the back of a draw and loss to Kerala Blasters FC and Bengaluru FC, respectively.

 

6pm: Chennaiyin FC's midfield mainstay Anirudh Thapa picked up an injury in last week's game against Bengaluru FC and had to be taken off early in the first half.

While initial reports suggested he could miss a couple of games, Chennaiyin coach Laszlo said yesterday that Thapa's was recovering well and making quick progress.

The coach added that he would take the final call today on whether Thapa would feature against Mumbai City FC.

Match Preview:

- Chennaiyin FC set to meet table-topper Mumbai -

Table-topper Mumbai City FC will be hoping to extend its winning run when it takes on an unsettled Chennaiyin FC side at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Wednesday.

After its 1-0 defeat to NorthEast United FC in its opening fixture, Mumbai has won its next three games with clean sheets and has looked one of the best teams of the tournament so far.

ISL 2020-21 points table

True to manager Sergio Lobera’s style, Mumbai plays an attacking form of football, controlling possession in its games and is yet to concede a goal from open play.

 

Speaking ahead of the match, Lobera said, “We are an attacking team but, we are defending as well. The best way to defend is to have the ball. When you have the ball, you can always score and are unlikely to concede.”

READ|

Chennaiyin, on the other hand, after winning its opening game convincingly, has regressed a bit with a draw and loss to Kerala Blasters FC and Bengaluru FC, respectively.

The team will need to find the scoring form it showed against Jamshedpur FC to put pressure on Mumbai City. In its last two matches, the team failed to capitalise on chances and get the finishing touches done and even missed a penalty in the game against Kerala Blasters.

READ|

Despite the slump, Chennaiyin coach Csaba Laszlo sounded confident about his side’s chances. “We have seen their (Mumbai's) strengths and what they are capable of doing. But we are capable too, we have shown our ability and what we can do. We have to stay compact, help each other. If we can do this and play to our strengths, we can beat Mumbai,” said Laszlo.

Anirudh Thapa suffered an injury in the last match against Bengaluru and is a doubtful starter. However, Laszlo said that his progress was looking better than expected and is hopeful of a quick recovery.

--

Follow Sportstar's full coverage (Latest news, Interviews, Features, Points table, Quiz, Videos) of ISL 2020-21 here. Click here

The Indian Super League (ISL 2020-21) marks the return of major league competition in India after the nationwide lockdown to prevent the COVID-19 outbreak was first imposed in March.

The seventh edition of the ISL got underway inside a bio-bubble in Goa on November 20.

The tournament, spanning over four months, will see 11 teams play each other in a league and playoff format across three venues. Following SC East Bengal's inclusion, this season will feature 115 games, up from 95 last season.