I-League: Vital win for Mohammedan Sporting

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Mohammedan Sporting kept their survival hopes alive.

New Delhi: Mohammedan Sporting kept their survival hopes alive with a deserving 2-0 win over Mumbai FC in a round 20 I-League match at the Vidyasagar Krirangan, Barasat on Sunday.

First Half

Both sides started cautiously and there wasn’t any meaningful attack from either side in the early stages of the game.

But Mohammedan took the lead in a bizarre way when Satyajit Bose’s corner was caught by Mumbai FC goalkeeper Liaz Koya well inside the goal line.

Liaz’s mistake was well spotted by the linesman who flagged and the goal was awarded to the Kolkatan side.

Mumbai FC players protested but the goal stood much to the joy of thousands of Mohammedan supporters in the stands.

The goal unsettled Mumbai FC, as they looked out of sorts while on the other hand Mohammedan started playing with much more confidence.

Satyajit could have doubled his team’s advantage when he rose well to head a Suraj Mondal cross but his header was just off target.

Mumbai were giving the ball away in midfield and their only effort in the first thirty minutes was a long range shot by Felix which was straight into the hands of Naseem Akhtar.

Just on the half an hour mark, Mohammedan came up with the move of the half when Okoro released Satyajit Bose into the box with a through ball but Bose delayed and then returned the ball to his skipper whose first time shot was well saved by Liaz.

Mumbai started seeing the ball a little more but were failing to use the flanks and get in crosses for their tall forwards.

The rest of the half saw very little goal mouth action with both sides giving the ball away with some sloppy passing.

Second Half

Mumbai came out of the blocks faster in the second half but were not able to create too many clear cut chances and were limited to long range efforts.

Mohammedan were playing on the break and their front four of Okoro,Gray,Suraj and Satyajit were creating problems for the Mumbai back four.

Their first big chance of the second half fell to Satyajit Bose after Okoro won the header on the far post, but Bose once again delayed and his chance went away.

Three minutes later Eugene Gray played a brilliant through pass for Okoro who tried to chip with the outside of his right foot but the shot was just over the bar.

David Booth brought on Nishant Mehra in place of Abishek Yadav and went back to a 4-4-2 formation. And that change nearly brought Mumbai the equalizer when Abel Hammond did well to win a header from a Nishant Mehra cross which gave Felix a clear sight of goal but he failed to hit the target.

Mohammedan were still looking dangerous with their counter attacks and one such attack did finally pay dividends when Okoro’s low cross from the right flank found its way to Satyajit Bose.

Predictably Bose once again delayed and that forced John Benedict to make a challenge inside the box which was deemed as a foul by the referee as he pointed to the spot.

Eugene gray coolly converted the spot kick even though goalkeeper Liaz Koya went to the right side.

That goal gave Mohammedan some breathing space giving both their dugout and fans a huge sigh of a relief.

Okoro had the chance to get the third when he found himself in acres of space inside the box after some good work by Satyajit Bose but the Mohammedan skipper uncharacteristically put his shot wide.

Mumbai had a few chances as Felix was allowed to make two free headers but he failed to hit the target on both occasions. Satyajit Bose and Eugene Gray also tested Liaz in the late stages of the game but Mumbai keeper did come up with decent saves.

Felix came up with his best effort of the match when he came up with a left footed shot on the turn just outside the box but it was well saved by Naseem Akhtar.

There was more goalmouth action towards the end as a spirited run from Selwyn Fernandes setup Felix in a one on one situation but once again Naseem came up with a good save.

The last chance of the game fell to Adebayo who made a solo run into the box but failed to come up with an accurate shot.

This result lifts Mohammedan to 10th spot having taken 22 points from their 20 games while Mumbai FC stay on fifth place with 27 points from the same number of games.

Goalscorers: Satyajit Bose 14’, Eugene Gray (pen) 72’