Bambolim (Goa): Mumbai City FC continued their impressive start to the ISL-7 with a 2-0 victory over Odisha FC at the GMC Stadium, here Sunday.
Batholomew Ogbeche (30th) scored from the spot and a header from Rowllin Borges (45th) gave Sergio Lobera’s men their third win in four games.
The win sent them top of the table, level on points with ATK Mohun Bagan, albeit with a better goal difference. For Odisha FC, this was their third loss in four games and only point-less SC East Bengal lie below Stuart Baxter’s side.
Mumbai predictably started the game spraying around passes and enjoying ball possession. But it was Odisha FC who enjoyed the first real chance of the match, in the fourth minute, when Diego Mauricio’s freekick clipped the top of the crossbar.
Mumbai’s first clear-cut opportunity came in the 18th minute when Ahmed Jahouh found Cy Goddard down the right. Goddard only had keeper Kamaljit Singh to beat but his shot went over the bar.
Twelve minutes later though, Mumbai had their goal. Vignesh Dakshina Murthy’s attempted cross from the edge of the box struck Shubham
Sarangi’s hand and the referee promptly pointed to the spot. Ogbeche stepped up and fired a low shot to the left to put Mumbai ahead. It was the third penalty Odisha had conceded this season and the second mistake that Sarangi had committed, which had led to a goal.
Hugo Boumous missed a great chance to score in the 43rd minute, firing wide from Bipin Singh’s pass. But Mumbai City had their second a couple of minutes later. Bipin, again, fired in a great cross into the box which Borges headed past substitute keeper Ravi Kumar.
Baxter later attributed ‘lack of experience’ and ‘tiredness’ to Odisha FC’s poor show. “We had played a game just 48 hours back… so may be the boys were tired,” Baxter said after the game.
Agencies