Mumbai City FC enjoyed a dominant 4-0 win over Chennaiyin FC in their round of 16 match during the Kalinga Super Cup at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, April 23. Captain Lallianzuala Chhangte (64’, 86’) scored a crucial brace for the Islanders and Nikos Karelis (43’) and Bipin Singh (90’) also contributed with goals.
Mumbai City FC made a bright start as they created a scoring opportunity right in the first minute. Chhangte made an incisive pass into the box for Vikram Partap Singh but the Chennaiyin FC defenders stopped him from unleashing a shot in front of goal.
It was an end-to-end affair in the opening minutes as Chennaiyin FC too were pushing the ball ahead well on the wings and created chances on goal. In the sixth minute, Chenniyin FC made multiple attempts on the trot, but Mumbai City FC goalkeeper T.P. Rehensh made crucial saves to keep the scores level. In the same minute, left back Sahil Panwar suffered an early injury in the game and was replaced by Bipin.
Mumbai City FC dominated the rest of the half and piled on the pressure on Chennaiyin FC’s backline. In the 14th minute, Chhangte came teasingly close to scoring when he dribbled down the right flank and fired a shot, however, the ball struck the far post.
Mumbai City FC made multiple efforts on goal in the following minutes but Chennaiyin FC were doing well in fending off the attacks. In the 39th minute, Chhenaiyin FC came close to open the scoring but Mehtab Singh made a crucial interception inside the box.
Moments before the half-time whistle in the 43rd minute, Mumbai City FC scored the first goal of the night to take the lead. Jorge Ortiz delivered a cross into the box from a corner kick which was initially headed away by Chennaiyin FC’s Wilmar Jordan, but the ball landed on Mehtab’s feet inside the box. Mehtab played it behind to Hitesh Sharma as he chipped the ball into the box for Karelis, who timed his run perfectly and headed the ball into the net.
In the second half, Lukas Brambilla of Chennaiyin FC did well to dribble into the box and beat the Mumbai City FC goalkeeper, who was off his line, but Mehtab made an incredible goalline save to keep the lead intact.
Mumbai City FC were in fine fettle and found the second goal in the 64th minute. Ortiz played the ball through to Karelis on the left flank who was through on goal, but the striker chose to pass it past the keeper towards Chhangte on the other wing as the captain finished the ball into the empty net.
Mumbai City FC further extended their lead towards the end of the game as they scored back-to-back goals in the 86th and 90th minute to assert their dominance on the game. First, Ortiz played another brilliant pass when he threaded the ball through to Chhangte as he beat two defenders on the right wing and fired a left-footed curler into the bottom left corner of the net. Moments later, Chhangte chipped the ball into the final third for Bipin as he lost his marker and made a low-driven effort past the keeper and into the net, helping Mumbai City FC progress into the Quarter Final.
