Mumbai City FC picked up a crucial away win as they beat Jamshedpur FC 2-1 in the Steel City of India! The result extended MCFC’s unbeaten run to 5 games and helped the Islanders to 13 points from 9 matches.
Goals from Paulo Machado and substitute Raynier Fernandes proved crucial as the resurgence continues for Jorge Costa and his boys. Tiri scored in between the two Islanders' goals but it didn’t cause any damage for the away side.
The first big chance of the game fell Bipin Singh’s way after Modou Sougou put in a good cross from the right-wing but Bipin failed to strike it cleanly. At the other end, Amrinder Singh stood strong to deny JFC the opening goal after making an impressive save to deny CK Vineeth.
The Islanders took the lead in the 15th minute after Paulo Machado’s effort from a smart free-kick. The midfielder beat Subrata Paul at his near post after managing to put enough power and curve in the set-piece. Machado was the 11th different goal-scorer for Mumbai City this season, epitomizing that football is a team game, in it's truest sense.
The game slowed down a little with MCFC doing well to control the game. JFC had a chance to equalize in the 27th minute but Isaac Vanmalsawma’s volley went over the goal.
Just a minute later, Piti came close for JFC but his effort from outside the box whistled past the post.
In the 32nd minute, Tiri’s through ball found Farukh Choudhary’s run, the midfielder went for goal but luckily for Amrinder and co., his shot was wide off the far post. JFC were knocking on the door and it paid off in the 37th minute as Tiri got them back on level terms. Piti’s corner found Tiri's head at the far post who put it past Amrinder.
In what was a huge setback for the Islanders, Amine Chermiti got subbed after a nasty head collision between the Tunisian and Sumeet Passi during a MCFC corner. Unfortunately, he had to be stretchered off and replaced by Diego Carlos. Both sides headed into the break with the game levelled at 1-1.
The Boss made a sub during the break as Raynier Fernandes replaced Bipin Singh with a possible tactical switch owing to Chermiti’s injury. There were a couple of early bookings in the second half for the Islanders as Mato Grgic & Rowllin Borges got into the referee’s book. It was the fourth booking for Rowllin and he will be suspended for the clash against Hyderabad FC on 29th December.
Grgic came close to putting the Islanders ahead after he got at the end of Machado’s free-kick but it was straight at the goalkeeper. Once again, it was the Islanders who took the lead thanks to a brilliant finish from Raynier.
Paulo's ball split the JFC defence and found Sougou. The Senegalese forward unselfishly laid it off for Raynier who curled it past Subrata into the top corner for his first goal of the season. It was a lovely goal to watch as the away side finished off a good move, making the Mumbai lad the 12th different goalscorer for the Islanders.
Piti was the next man to be booked after arguing with the referee. Not too later, another JFC man, Passi was shown a yellow card for a bad tackle on Raynier. The game certainly was heating up in the second half with both sides not wanting to give each other any comfort.
Just after the hour mark, Amrinder was called into action. Our no.1 pulled off a top save to deny CK Vineeth right inside the box. It was a crucial moment in the game with JFC chasing for a second equalizing goal in the game. The home side started to dominate and were having the majority of the possession but the resilience from the MCFC wasn’t easy to break.
In the 77th minute, there was another injury for the Islanders after Machado missed his footing on the ball. He was replaced by Sourav Das who made his much-awaited MCFC debut for the Islanders after suffering injury setbacks earlier in the season. Soon after, Narender Gahlot was booked for stopping Diego in his run as he pulled his jersey.
With a little over 10 minutes to go, JFC were pushing ahead in numbers and putting the pressure on MCFC, once again. The substitute Sourav Das made an important block to deny substitute Aniket Jadhav and help MCFC maintain their lead.
Monroy and Diego were shown the yellow card by the referee with the game looking to end on a tight note. Piti's injury earlier in the half meant there were 6 minutes of stoppage time but the Islanders stood strong and held onto their lead and 3 very crucial points in the end.
The Islanders managed to break Bengaluru FC & Jamshedpur FC’s unbeaten home record in a gap of 4 days. Jorge Costa’s side also maintained their brilliant away record this season with 3 wins and 3 draws (12 points). A 9-day break awaits the Islanders with Hyderabad FC visiting the Arena on 29th December.
Book your tickets to our final home game of 2019 here!
