Welcome to Sportstar's ISL 2020-21 highlights/ live blog of the Mumbai City FC vs NorthEast United FC clash that took place at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Saturday.
That brings us to the end of our ISL coverage for the day. We will be back tomorrow for tomorrow's double header when Hyderabad FC takes on Chennaiyin FC, which will be followed by a mouth-watering encounter between Kerala Blasters and ATK Mohun Bagan. Until then, it's goodnight from us!
MATCH REPORT|
Follow Sportstar's full coverage (Latest news, Interviews, Features, Points table, Quiz, Videos) of ISL 2020-21 .
Post-match quotes -
NorthEast United FC interim head coach Khalid Jamil : [On half-time talk] "I just told them to maintain what they were doing going into the second half and to work hard. We were playing good team which keeps the ball. Told my team that we needed to come back in position and maintain shape if and when we lost the ball.
[On Deshorn Brown] "He is one of the quality strikers, I like him. I don't have to tell him anything, he's mature and knows what to do and did a good job."
[On the secret behind three successive wins] "Like I have said earlier, it is because of the players. I am not doing anything different, everyone is playing well and this is the magic."
Match-winner Deshorn Brown : "I am trying to enjoy more, I am getting a lot of freedom to play my game here. I am happy to win tonight. They are a very good team. We had the spirit to fight and we executed the plan tonight and it (the win) happned. We got to keep believing in ourselves and play the game we know how to play."
[On missing the hat-trick] "I didn't think about it too much because when you do you break yourself dfown. I thought I will get another goal but it did not happen."
Mumbai City FC coach Sergio Lobera : "The start wasn't good. We conceded two goals in 10 minutes and it was difficult for us to be in this situation because after that we didn't play well. Our balance in defense was not good. When we lost ball there was lot of spaces between lines and they have players who exploited this. They played better than us today. I congratulate them. I need to analyse my team's game and try to improve our mistakes from today. We created chances in the end today, but playing we were playing impulsively and not as per our style. Today they (NEUFC) deserve the win and I need to congratulate them."
"We need to keep improving and keep working. It's a very special season for everyone. It was a short time to work with the players and to try to implement new ideas and style of play. This situation is possible to happen. In 10 minutes today we conceded two goals but before that we only conceded five, out of which three came from penalties. We need to understand games better because when we score first it's difficult for the opponent and today NEUFC did that to us. It's a moment of reflection for our team to focus on the future. We need to learn from this."
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NorthEast United's dream run under the leadership of Khalid Jamil continues as the Highlanders hand table-topper Mumbai City a 2-1 defeat. The win, NorthEast United's third on the trot, ends Mumbai City's 12-game unbeaten streak.
Deshorn Brown was the match-winner as his quickfire brace inside the opening nine minutes powered his side to all three points and to the fourth spot on the table. Mumbai City, which bagged a goal through Adam le Fondre, remains atop the standings with a six-point lead over second-placed ATK Mohun Bagan.
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90+5' FULL TIME! MUMBAI CITY FC 1- 2 NORTHEAST UNITED
90+2' NorthEast United's Pragyan Gogoi will make his first ISL appearance as he replaces Gallego.
90+1' What a fantastic save from Roy! Le Fondre's attempted shot finds Mehtab on the far post and he gets off a strong header. Roy, however, makes a stunning reflex save to parry it out for a corner.
90' Machado goes into the book for foul on Amey and Mumbai has a free-kick from a very dangerous position. Five minutes to be added on.
89' Mumbai City throw men forward and nearly find an equaliser! Jahouh's lob finds Le Fondre in the goal-mouth, but the header is off target.
88' Solid block from Camara as he gets in the way to deny Ogbeche a chance to shoot from inside the box.
85' Le Fondre gets on the score-sheet! The Englishman latches on to Ogbeche's touch to loop it into the back of the net. He's come off the bench and scored his seventh goal of the season to offer his side a ray of hope.
81' Khalid Jamil's side is coasting towards a third successive win. Can the Highlanders pull this off?
79' Quite strange that Jahouh has not been booked again. He first catches Gallego on the ankle, then yanks on his shorts and argues with the referee for calling it a foul. He's already on a yellow, mind you.
78' Brown, the goal-scorer of the evening, has been taken off as Idrissa Sylla comes on.
76' Boumous is lucky to escape a booking there. Roy collects the cross and Boumous, clearly late to the ball, leads with his knee to clatter into the 'keeper.
73' Sarthak makes a lunging tackle from behind on Brown and becomes the latest player to be booked. NorthEast have a free-kick from the edge of the box but Gallego's ball into the box has no takers.
72' Change for Mumbai City: Vignesh Dakshinamurthy comes on for Mandar.
71' Nim makes a sliding tackle from behind on Bipin and has his name taken by the referee. Jahouh takes the free-kick and it's yet again a routine save for the 'keeper.
69' Another set-play chance wasted by the Islanders. Jahouh decides to go for goal and shoots it straight at Roy, who punches it away to safety.
68' NorthEast United should take advantage of the fact that Mumbai's two seasoned foreign defenders - Fall and le Fondre - are off the pitch. A goal here would all but put the tie to bed. Also, Cy Goddard has come on for Jackichand.
66' Strange call here - Fall and Hernan have been taken off right before the free-kick. Sarthak Goloui and Adam le Fondre replace them.
65' Cheeky from Boumous. He runs into Machado, claims a foul, and wins the free-kick.
64' Changes incoming. Suhair seems to have hurt his knee and has signallled to the bench to make a substitution. Rochharzela replaces him.
60' Mumbai City FC has the bulk of possession at the hour mark but is yet to really carve an opening in the NorthEast United defence.
55' Jahouh has been booked for a foul on Gallego and will now miss next the game against Kerala Blasters. This is the third time Jahouh will miss a game due to suspension this season - he has received two red cards so far.
54' Camara has done particularly well to keep Boumous quiet so far. We all know the threat that the Frenchman possesses when he has the ball and Camara has been on his heels to offer him little to no room.
52' Ogbeche is booked. Gallego breaks on the counter and is hacked down from behind by Ogbeche.
49' Wasteful from Boumous. Mumbai City win a free-kick from a dangerous position and Boumous takes the dead-ball but his shot sails neatly into Roy's outstretched gloves.
48' First booking of the game and Lakra picks up a yellow. He vies for the ball with Amey and ends up kicking him in the heel.
46' What a hit from Lalengmawia! He fires a ferocious swerving strike and forces a fine save from Amrinder.
46' KICK OFF! And the second half gets underway.
An enthralling first half ends with NorthEast United storming to a 2-0 lead. Deshorn Brown scored twice in the span of three minutes to put his side comfortably ahead within the 10th minute. Mumbai City took a while to regroup and went on to create chances, but found no way past a determined Subhasish Roy Choudhury.
This is the first time Mumbai City FC has conceded two goals in a game this season.
45+2' HALF-TIME! Mumbai City FC 0 - 2 NorthEast United FC
44' Change for NorthEast! Camara does well to release Gallego, but the Uruguayan can't get the ball off his feet and the defence swoops in to clear the danger. Two minutes to be added on.
41' Outrageous save from Roy! He makes a sharp dive to his left to keep out Jahouh's curling strike.
35' Mumbai City has come out all guns blazing after the water break. Wonder what Lobera said to his boys there...
33' Back to back chances for Ogbeche! The first one comes from a lovely long ball from Jahouh. Ogbeche chests it down and readies himself for a shot but defender gets in the way. The second chance sees him attempt an acrobatic volley but the attempt is not close to the target.
32' First change of the evening as Mehtab Singh comes on for Raynier.
31' Machado! Gallego fights off a defender before laying it for his Portuguese team-mate on the left. Machado tries to curl it past the 'keeper but gets his lines wrong.
30' Ogbeche does really well to evade his marker and get a strong header off Bipin's corner, but can't find the target.
28' Positive intent from Mumbai City. Jahouh lets one rip from distance but it swerves away from the goal. The Moroccan has had 101 shots in his ISL career and has managed one goal in four seasons.
27' Suhair appears to be in a spot of bother. He seems to have taken a knock from Fall and a stretcher has been called.
25' For the uninitiated, Khalid Jamil took over as the interim head coach earlier this month and has won both games since. Jamil, who led Aizawl FC to the I-League title, has taken NEUFC past Owen Coyle's Jamshedpur FC and Antonio Habas' ATK Mohun Bagan. Both the coaches were part of the ISL final last year.
22' Ouch! Raynier gets his foot stuck in the ground and twists his right knee. That looks awfully painful. Lobera has five players warming up in the sidelines - an early change maybe?
20' Brown nearly makes it 3-0! Lakra plays a phenomenal defence-splitting pass and Brown just has the 'keeper to beat, but scuffs the chance. That has undoubtedly been the pass of the game so far.
17' Bipin is at it again as he overcomes a challenge to stay on his feet and ends up winning a corner. Set-piece chance for Mumbai! Over 60 percent of Mumbai's goals have come from set-pieces this season.
16' Chance! Bipin curls a cross towards the far post and Jackichand is there, but he can't get the desired connection.
14' Mumbai City is absolutely shell-shocked. For a club that is known for its free-flowing football, the Islanders look extremely shaky. The side had conceded only five goals coming into this game!
11' What a revelation Brown has been at NorthEast United! The 30-year-old struggled for service at Bengaluru FC but has really come good at NorthEast. He's now got three goals to his name from as many games.
9' MAKE THAT 2-0! BROWN MAKES IT 2-0! Gallego's corner from the left takes a few touches before finding Brown at the far post and the Jamaican busts the net with a fantastic finish. What a phenomenal start for the Highlanders!
6' GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! Brown powers NorthEast United into the lead! Machado has the initial go at goal and Amrinder parries it away but the danger isn't cleared. Dorjee fires a first-time cross into the box and Brown times his run to perfection to smash it into the net.
3' Action at the other end as Mandar drills a cross into the box but can't find a blue shirt at the end of it.
2' Free-kick to NorthEast right away and Gallego floats the ball in but Jahouh makes a defensive header.
1' KICK OFF! Mumbai City attacking from left to right.
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7:25pm: The players are out in the centre! Mumbai City in its sky blue jerseys while NorthEast United wears its white away kit.
7:20pm: A shot at history for Mumbai City today - the Islanders are unbeaten in their last 12 games and a win or draw today will see Lobera's men break FC Goa's record for the longest unbeaten streak in the league's history, a record standing since 2015.
7:10pm: From Bengaluru's winless run to the latest in transfers and KP Rahul's impressive week, here are the major talking points from the week gone by in the Indian Super League -
7pm: Two changes for the Highlanders as well as Benjamin Lambot makes a comeback to the starting line-up. Provat Lakra takes Gurjinder's place as the latter has been ruled out due to suspension. Fox is missing the game due to an injury.
IN: Benjamin Lambot , Provat Lakra OUT: Dylan Fox, Gurjinder Kumar
6:45pm: Sergio Lobera makes two changes to his squad as Mandar Rao Dessai returns to the XI, while Jackichand Singh gets his first start and replaces the suspended Rowllin Borges.
IN: Mandar Rao Dessai, Jackichand Singh | OUT: Vignesh Dakshinamurthy, Rowllin Borges
6:35 pm: The line-ups are out!
Mumbai City FC XI
Amrinder; Amey, Fall, Santana, Mandar; Jahouh, Raynier; Jackichand, Boumous, Bipin; Ogbeche
NorthEast United FC XI
Subhasish; Lakra, Lambot, Mashoor, Dorjee; Camara, Lalengmawia; Suhair, Gallego, Machado; Brown
6:15pm: Here's how the two teams could line-up:
Mumbai City FC predicted XI (4-2-3-1)
Amrinder Singh; Amey Ranawade, Mourtada Fall, Hernan Santana, Mandar Rao Dessai; Ahmed Jahouh, Rowllin Borges; Raynier Fernandes, Hugo Boumous, Bipin Singh; Bartholomew Ogbeche
NorthEast United FC predicted XI (4-2-3-1)
Subhasish Roy Choudhury; Ashutosh Mehta, Mashoor Shereef, Dylan Fox, Gurjinder Kumar; Khassa Camara, Lalengmawia; VP Suhair, Federico Gallego, Luis Machado; Deshorn Brown
6 PM: Podcast - The merger between ATK and Mohun Bagan for ISL 2020-21 seemed like a match made in heaven, but fans didn't look pleased. Our reporters Shyam Vasudevan, Aashin Prasad and Amitabha Das Sharma delve into the reasons behind fans' displeasure and the raging hashtag #RemoveATK in the latest episode of 'The Full Time Show'.
Follow Sportstar's full coverage (Latest news, Interviews, Features, Points table, Quiz, Videos) of ISL 2020-21 .
MATCH PREVIEW:
Mumbai City FC is on the verge of history in the Indian Super League (ISL). The Islanders are unbeaten in their last 12 games having won nine and drawn thrice and are currently leading the table with 30 points. A win or a draw in their upcoming match against NorthEast United FC at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim will see Sergio Lobera's men break FC Goa's record for the longest unbeaten streak in the league's history, a record standing since 2015.
However, Mumbai has dropped points in the last three games. It was held twice and was able to score just two in those games and now faces NorthEast, a side that inflicted the only defeat of the season on the league leader.
But the Spaniard seemed unconcerned. “I am not worried about the past game. NorthEast have improved a lot in the last two games. They are playing good attacking football and are comfortable with the ball and keep possession,” said Lobera.
“For us, this is going to be a different game. But we have improved from our first match of the competition but NorthEast also (has improved). It’s not easy to play against NorthEast now. We have to go 100 percent if we want to win,” he added.
Some of the MCFC players are already on three yellow cards and are on the verge of suspensions but Lobera stressed the importance of a win. “We need three points every game and every match is important for us. We need to play thinking of three points,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Highlanders look to have turned a corner under interim coach Khalid Jamil and are on a two-match winning run. At the same time, it has been seven games since they last maintained a clean sheet. Assistant coach Alison Kharsyntiew is aware of the threat that Mumbai poses.
“Mumbai City are a good team. But we must believe that we can beat them tomorrow. We just have to be disciplined in our attacking and defending principles and be confident,” said Kharsyntiew.
Mumbai boasts one of the best attacking lines while its defensive stats are impressive too. Lobera’s men have scored the most (19 goals) and conceded the least (5) in the league. The side is capable of creating problems for is opponents if given enough room.
“We need to dictate the play. We need to control the game and yes if we don’t have the ball, we have to defend well. We have to be patient with the ball, create chances and utilize it and that’s the main aim for us,” Kharsyntiew said.
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The seventh edition of the Indian Super League 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 the inclusion of SC East Bengal, this season will feature 115 games, up from 95 last season.
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