ISL 2020-21 highlights: Le Fondre, Santana goals give Mumbai City 3-0 win vs SC East Bengal
ISL 2020, SCEB vs MCFC: Mumbai City FC thumped SC East Bengal 3-0 at GMC Stadium in Bambolim (Goa) to go top of the table.
Published : Dec 01, 2020 17:27 IST
Hello and welcome to Sportstar's ISL blog of the Mumbai City FC vs SC East Bengal match.
AS IT HAPPENED
Three goals scored by a team for the first time this season. We move to another exciting game on offer tomorrow. When Owen Coyle's Jamshedpur FC is involve it's bound to involve goals. But can it add wins to match the entertaining football? JFC takes on unbeaten Hyderabad FC.
Follow Sportstar's full coverage (Latest news, Interviews, Features, Points table, Quiz, Videos) of ISL 2020-21 here. Click here
MATCH REPORT | Mumbai City vs East Bengal
Sergio Lobera, "I am happy with the result, three important points, Not happy with our play. We need to improve a lot of things, We need to work and improve our level to play in our style. [Ogbeche?] He is a big player and an important player for us. I think he can help us a lot on and off the pitch, it's not easy as a coach to leave him out, a problem for me. But his attitude is amazing."
Some damning comments by SCEB coach Robbie Fowler, "[Positives?] Probably wasn't more than 3 goals. We are a new team, who are learning. Lot of players who can do better. But we are showing glimpses. Defensive errors cost us. Players dragged out of position and some silly mistakes. [Reaction to defeat?] I am devastated myself. I hope players are hurting more than me. We have to go again in 4-5 days. We are still coaching players, some Indian players look like they haven't been coached before. We are teaching intricate passing. We have to learn pretty quick. We have to be better. [On goals conceded through right flank, need for reinforcements] I will love to have them in all areas of the park in all honesty but I can't complain because we have what we hAve. Individual errors have cost us. Ball over the top in the first game and same again today. When you make errors against a quality side you get punsihed. Two goals conceded were our mistakes. We have to work and try to lift them."
We will bring you the post match quotes from both Lobera and Fowler next...
After a struggling start in front of goal, MCFC shwed glimpses of Lobera's blue-print in the attacking build-up. It spelt trouble for EB in the very first minute when skipper Danny Fox was injured and had to be subbed off. MCFC's pace and quality was too much to handle for EB's inexperienced backline, which was punished for its mistakes. Boumous was at his best today, providing two assists and winning the penalty. He is now the leading assist provider (19) in the ISL moving past Odisha FC's Marcelinho (18).
Debjit's performance between the goalposts remain a concern for EB. He gave away a penalty and should have done better with a couple of goals the team has conceded. A lot of work to be done for EB coach Robbie Fowler going forward.
FULL-TIME! Thumping 3-0 win for Mumbai City with Adam le Fondre starring on his 600th professional game of his career. Hernan Santana's maiden ISL goal lifted Mumbai to the top of the table, while EB remains rooted to the bottom.
90'+5' Good block by Rakip to deny Jeje a goal on his return.
90'+4' Pranjal wins the ball off Sehnaj inside the EB box and his shot is off target.
90'+2' Santana is down. Looks like a muscle injury.
FIVE MINUTES OF ADDED TIME.
89' Space for Ogbeche in the middle and he looks to smash one in from distance. Plenty of pace but lacks the direction.
88' Goddard is brought down by Ambekar.
86' EB coach Robbie Fowler is booked. He is frustrated on the sidelines for Mumbai City not returning the ball back to his players for putting the ball out of play.
84' Sehnaj goes into a tackle with Ogbeche which sees the striker go down in pain. The ball is put out of play.
82' MCFC SUBS: Boumous, Borges, Bipin OFF; Cy Goddard, Mehtab, Farukh ON
80' Bipin with a poor end product on the break again.
77' SCEB SUBS: Surchandra, Wahengbam Luwang OFF; Sehnaj, Ambekar ON
Drinks break taken.
75' Break on for Mumbai and Bipin is released on the right. He cuts in from the right before having his shot blocked in the box.
74' Mumbai City is coasting at the moment. Damage limitation will have to be the priority for East Bengal now. Their goal difference stands at minus 5 already.
70' MCFC SUB: Le Fondre OFF, Ogbeche ON
Jeje Lalpekhlua is back on a football pitch after 581 days...
67' SCEB SUB: Balwant OFF, Jeje ON
66' Ambitious from Rafique, cutting in from the right and takes a left-footed shot. Ball goes for a goalkick.
62' Mandar is booked on his 100th ISL appearance by bringing down Rafique. Mandar has moved back into the left-back role now.
60' MCFC SUB: Vignesh OFF, Pranjal ON
58' GOAL! SANTANA MAKES IT 3-0! Outside out the foot pass from Jahouh to find Boumous inside the box and the Frenchman sidefoots it into the centre of the box where Santana smashes it into the roof of the goal! Just three touches from the free-kick before the ball went into the net. Too much quality on show from Mumbai. Lobera loved that on the touchline!
57' Wahengbam Luwang cleans up le Fondre from behind with a sliding tackle and goes into the referee's notebook.
54' Santana goes down clutching his back after jumping over Rafique. He landed hard. He is okay to continue.
53' Foul by Jahouh on Pilkington. Poor challenge. Fourth MCFC player to be booked tonight.
52' Handball inside MCFC's six-yard box but it's off Balwant's hand. Referee spots it well and awards the free-kick.
48' GOAL! Le Fondre sends Debjit the wrong way and he puts MCFC 2-0 up. A big climb for East Bengal to get something from this game. Third goal of the season for le Fondre.
47' PENALTY! It goes from bad to worse for East Bengal. Debjit brings down Boumous inside the box. Le Fondre plays the ball in between Neville and Surchandra to find Boumous and he looked to round the 'keeper before being brought down by the 'keeper.
46' MCFC kicks off the second period. No changes for either side.
SECOND HALF
HALF-TIME whistle blown. MCFC takes a deserved lead for its adventurous, incisive football and has punished East Bengal for some sloppy defending at the back.
45'+3' Neville is down now... Oh dear. He is up now and sees out the rest of the added time.
45'+2' Brilliant skill from Jahouh inside his own box to make space for a MCFC counter-attack. Boumous' through ball is cut off by Neville.
Three minutes of added time.
45' Pilkington's shot from the free-kick is drilled against the wall.
44' Fall shown a yellow card after catching Maghoma with both his feet.
42' East Bengal's slow transition has allowed MCFC to get back and regroup. Some promising opening have been squandered due to some poor decision making.
39' Jahouh runs into trouble looking to dribble inside his own box but the ball is stolen off him. Pilkington should have done better. A tame shot rolls along the floor which Amrinder gets down to gather.
37' The freekick doesn't trouble Amridner in goal, ball sails over the bar.
36' Borges goes into the book for taking out Balwant from behind. Freekick from a dangerous position for East Bengal.
35' Another diagonal pass behind Surchandra for Boumous to run onto but the Frenchman is let down by his touch while taking the ball onto his stride.
33' Action resumes with a free-kick for MCFC. Fall goes for the header at back post but can't get his header on target.
Drinks break taken.
This new-look backline of Surchandra-Neville-Irshad-Narayan will have its task cut out.
27' MCFC is looking dangerous on the break with East Bengal playing a high line. Irshad with a sliding tackle to get to the ball before Bipin on the right.
24' Another counter-attacking move with Boumous and le Fondre linking up but the ball is intercepted before the former can run through on goal.
20' GOAL! Adam le Fondre scores for MCFC! Simplest goal he will ever score. Superb counter-attacking move from a corner kick inside its own box. Borges plays a diagonal pass for Boumous, who leaves Irshad on the floor with a drop off the shoulder before squaring the ball for le Fondre to tap the ball into the net.
19' SAVE! Driving run by Rafique and he unleashes a shot from distance, which requires a full-stretch save by Amrinder. That was going into the top right corner.
Rafique has slotted into central midfield and East Bengal has switched to a back four.
18' Foul by Bipin on Naryan inside the EB box as he looks to run on to Boumous' knockdown header.
14' Maghoma runs through the centre, skipping through challenges but his shot from outside the box is tame and Amrinder has it covered.
12' Fall with a sliding interception to get to the low cross across face of the goal by Narayan from the left. Maghoma with a good pass to release Narayan there.
Frantic start thus far.
10' Yellow card for Rakip. Poor from the right back. High boot on Narayan Das.
9' Le Fondre found inside the box by Mandar and the striker turns and squares the ball for Boumous. Boumous' shot is pushed away well by a diving Debjit.
8' Mumbai caught napping at the back but it gets a let off. A flick on header releases Pilkington through on goal and his shoot with his weaker foot narrowly misses the far post.
7' SCEB SUB: Fox off, Rafique ON
5' Bipin has space to attack on the right side but his cross is cut out by Irshad. Fox is down again. He has taken off his armband. He is going off. Unfortunate for East Bengal so early in the game.
4' Fox is okay to continue for the time being. He isn't moving too spritely.
2' Fox is down holding his hip. Probably a dead leg.
1' Peep! We are underway in Bambolim. East Bengal kicks off from right to left. le Donfre catches Fox challenging for a long ball. Foul goes EB's way.
Big game for Robbie Fowler's East Bengal. Can it kick start its ISL season with its first win?
FIRST HALF
7.25 pm: East Bengal players make their way out to the middle. They are followed by MCFC players in their home colours - blue.
7.22 pm: Another milestone for a MCFC player. Striker le Fondre will play in his 600th professional game.
7.12 pm: Mandar Rao Dessai will become the first player to 100 ISL appearances. Remarkable achievement and consistency from winger-turned-fullback. But will he play as the left-sided winger tonight? Here's what he said ahead of his landmark game. READ
6.58 pm: Two changes for East Bengal. Rana Gharami is replaced at the back by Mohamed Irshad and Wahengbam Luwang comes in for Lokon Metei in central midfield. Still no starting berth for Abhishek Ambekar. He had a good season in the I-League last year.
6.40 pm: Lobera has made three changes to his line-up. Two foreign centre-backs with Santana partnering Fall. Vignesh Dakshinamurthy and Bipin Singh will likely be the two wingers up top. But the biggest new for MCFC is the return of Ahmed Jahouh in central midfield. Sarthak, Cy Goddard and Farukh drop to the bench.
LINE-UPS
Mumbai City FC 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
SC East Bengal XI (3-4-3)
Debjit Majumder; Scott Neville, Daniel Fox, Mohamed Irshad; Surchandra Singh, Matti Steinman, Wahengbam Luwang, Narayan Das; Jacques Maghoma, Balwant Singh, Anthony Pilkington
6.15 pm: Team news coming up in a few minutes. Expect Ahmed Jahouh to come back into the starting XI after serving his one-game ban. Will Jeje make his first start in over 350 days?
6 pm: Both head coaches Sergio Lobera and Robbie Fowler will not compromise on the style in which their teams should play. In the early days of their seasons, we have seen that both teams like to dominate possession and dictate play. MCFC is coming into it on the back of a win, while East Bengal got off to its ISL debut campaign with a 0-2 defeat to arch-rival ATK Mohun Bagan. Here's Dominic Richard with the match preview. READ
5.45 pm: Here's Sportstar's predicted XIs for the game
Mumbai City FC predicted XI (4-2-3-1)
Amrinder Singh; Mohammad Rakip, Mourtada Fall, Sarthak Golui, Mandar Rao Dessai; Ahmed Jahouh, Rowllin Borges; Cy Goddard, Hugo Boumous, Farukh Choudhary; Adam Le Fondre
SC East Bengal predicted XI (3-4-3)
Debjit Majumder; Scott Neville, Daniel Fox, Rana Gharami; Surchandra Singh, Matti Steinman, Lokon Meiti, Abhishek Ambekar; Jacques Maghoma, Balwant Singh, Anthony Pilkington
We have got you covered for your fantasy Mumbai City FC-SC East Bengal-ATK Mohun Bagan XI. Captaincy pick: Adam le Fondre
Combined MCFC-SCEB XI
Amrinder Singh (MCFC); Mohammad Rakip (MCFC), Mourtada Fall (MCFC), Daniel Fox (SCEB), Mandar Rao Dessai (MCFC), Abhishek Ambekar (SCEB), Rowllin Borges (MCFC), Farukh Choudhary (MCFC), Anthony Pilkington (SCEB), Hugo Boumous (MCFC), Adam le Fondre (MCFC)
How did the teams fare in Gameweek 1 of ISL-7? Shyam Vasudevan and Aashin Prasad review the first round of fixtures on the 'Full Time Show' |
Follow Sportstar's full coverage (Latest news, Interviews, Features, Points table, Quiz, Videos) of ISL 2020-21 here. Click here
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The Indian Super League (ISL 2020-21) will mark 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.
| ISL 2020 will be televised live at 7.30 pm IST on Star Sports and live streamed on Disney+Hotstar and Jio TV. |