Adam Le Fondre & Bartholomew Ogbeche started together for the second time in the campaign for the Islanders. Jamshedpur FC too made a couple of changes as they brought in Karan Amin & Jackichand Singh to their starting eleven.
It was an electrifying first-half as both sides made crucial in-roads. Couple of close chances for Mumbai City FC came inside the two minutes of the first-half. Ogbeche too had a half-chance in the 7th minute but was wide of the target.
But it was Jamshedpur's Valskis who put the visitors on the scoresheet in the 9th minute of the first-half. It was a giveaway from Ogbeche straight to Jacki. The winger laid it off for the Lithuanian who struck it clean to put Jamshedpur ahead by 1-0.
Monroy almost doubled the lead for the visitor with a free-kick from a promising position but found side netting in the 13th minute of the first half. The Spaniard’s joy of almost scoring a goal didn't last long as he got booked for a foul on Cy Goddard the very next minute.
Ogbeche finally got a chance to redeem himself in the 15th minute. It was a clean passage of football by the Islanders. From Vignesh to Bipin to Ogbeche, a brilliant coordination put us 1-1 after Bart’s cool finish.
The next course of play was no different. Both teams had their chances to put one behind the net but just were not able to finish it on those occasions. Soon after, Jamshedpur were down to 10-men after Monroy was sent off for his second yellow card of the match.
With a man to the good, Mumbai City FC once again charged in with Ogbeche after a wonderful pass from Jahouh in the 29th minute of the first-half. But another miscued attempt to the target kept us at bay for 1-1.
Jamshedpur FC's custodian made a couple of big saves to end the first half that saw some cracking football from the ‘home’ side and plenty of opportunities for Ogbeche who should have scored more often than not on his day.
The start of the second half saw Mumbai City FC dominating the possession and the story didn't change much for Ogbeche who had another chance to put the Islanders ahead in the 50th minute but only managed to hit it wide.
Jamshedpur were a more settled side in the second half and didn't give away any opportunity till the 61st minute when Rowllin had an empty net to finish it, but missed the opportunity big time.
Owen Coyle made the first change of the match bringing in Sandip Mandi for Karan Amin as his side looked a better unit with 10-men. While they weren't able to attack as much they would love to, the visitor kept things tight at the defense.
Another inspiring effort for the visitors came in the 73rd min from their captain Peter Hartley who cleared a crucial cross from Vignesh that was going towards Ogbeche. In the 79th minute, Valskis was gutted to be called offside after he found the back of the net.
Coyle brought in a few fresh legs as he made a triple change for Jamshedpur with Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Jitendra Singh and Aniket Jadhav came in for William, Alex Lima and Jackichand Singh.
Jamshedpur were certainly a better unit at the defense in the second half but one guy who they would thank the most was their goalkeeper Rehenesh who made another sensational save in the 83rd minute.
Mumbai City FC will rue all the chances they've had. The final score would never tell the entire story of this particular fixture. The Islanders had as many as 10 out of 14 attempts off target - some of those were the real goal-scoring opportunities.
The Islanders are still sitting at the top of the points table with 4-1-1 (W-D-L) after six matches, three points clear ahead of ATK Mohun Bagan FC and North East United FC and will face Hyderabad on Sunday, December 20 in an early kick-off.
