Mumbai City FC defeated Inter Kashi 1-0 in their quarter final fixture of the Kalinga Super Cup at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, April 27. Captain Lallianzuala Chhangte (71’) scored the only goal of the evening and helped his side seal the semi final spot.
It was a tightly contested opening minutes of the first half as both sides exchanged possession looking to take an early lead. Inter Kashi were playing an aggressive brand of football with high pressing but Mumbai City FC’s defenders held their composure and played from the back.
In the 24th minute, Mumbai City FC came close to scoring as Nathan Rodrigues played a crucial long ball from deep onto Vikram Partap Singh in the box who was through on goal but he couldn’t control the ball in time and squandered the chance.
Around the half-hour mark, the game was temporarily halted due to bees attacking a referee. The match officials then changed their kits from yellow to black and the game was resumed. Hence, the referee gave 14 minutes of additional time in the first half.
In the twelfth minute of added time, Mumbai City FC’s Nathan went down due to an injury while defending and hence was subbed off for Thaer Krouma. Three minutes later, Inter Kashi were through on goal as Prasanth Mohan was inside the box with a clear shot but Krouma made a timely tackle to win the ball and keep the scores level.
Mumbai City FC almost scored the opening goal in the 53rd minute from a corner kick. Jorge Ortiz crossed the ball into the box as Mehtab Singh headed the ball towards goal, but struck the crossbar. The ball then fell for Nikolaos Karelis but his acrobatic volley went just wide off the goal post.
In the 71st minute, Mumbai City piled on the pressure with back-to-back attempts on Inter Kashi’s goal and ultimately found the net. Ortiz took two shots from close range, however, both were blocked by the Inter Kashi backline. The ball then landed to Captain Chhangte who was unmarked inside the box and found the net with a powerful finish past everyone to give his side the winning goal.
From thereon, Mumbai City FC controlled the tempo of the game and were resilient with their defending to ensure they maintained their slim lead and see out a win.
