Mumbai City secured a hard-fought victory over Hyderabad FC at the Mumbai Football Arena. The decisive moment came from Mehtab Singh, whose goal sealed a 1-0 win for the Islanders.
Mumbai City made a bright start to the evening and went on to create a plethora of scoring chances right from kick-off. In the 4th minute, Jayesh Rane played an impressive through ball to Captain Lallianzuala Chhangte on the right as he cut in and took an effort which was saved by the keeper.
The home side built on the momentum and played an aggressive brand of football in the first-half. The Islanders almost broke the deadlock in the 12th minute as the ball fell to Jon Toral inside the box who volleyed it towards goal and struck the crossbar off of a deflection.
The first goal of the game came in the 29th minute when center-back Mehtab Singh headed the ball into the back of the net off of a corner-kick. Chhangte crossed the ball into the far post as Mehtab lost his marker and made a darting run into the box and scored.
Hyderabad FC’s first chance on goal came well into the game in the 36th minute and found it difficult to infiltrate Mumbai City’s final third as the Islanders' backline did its job and ensured they kept a clean sheet.
Hyderabad FC started the second-half strong as fans witnessed some good end-to-end footballing action. Mumbai City kept their composure and maintained their lead.
Bipin Singh, who came on in the second-half, made a commendable individual effort when he dribbled down the middle and fired a shot in the 75th minute but narrowly missed the target. In the 78th minute, Edmilson Correia came close to equalising for Hyderabad FC as his shot struck the far post, however, the referee ruled him off-side.
Mumbai City showed great resilience in the dying embers of the game to keep their slim lead and win three crucial points to climb higher up the table.
Mumbai City will play against Odisha FC in an away game on December 5th.
