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Mumbai City FC brought Chennaiyin FC's winning run in ISL to an end with a battling 1-0 win at home inside the Mumbai Football Arena. Chennaiyin had the better of the exchanges as far as chances were concerned, but Mumbai on the back of a strong defensive showing managed to pick up the narrow win to take them up to fifth and bring their opponents' three-game winning run to an end.
Here's what stood out from the game:
#1 Gregory rings the changes
Chennaiyin were playing their third game in eight days and it seemed to factor into their coach John Gregory's team selection. He made five changes to his preferred first-choice line-up that he's been playing.
Jeje Lalpekhlua, the two-goal hero on Thursday, was replaced by veteran Mohammed Rafi. Nigerian Jude Nworuh replaced Gregory Nelson out on the left and Thoi Singh came in for Francis Fernandes on the right. Anirudh Thapa, who impressed after coming on as a substitute last game, started in place of Bikramjit Singh.
Despite the changes, Gregory's side gave a good account of themselves.
#2 Foul outside the box, penalty
That's what happened on the 58th minute.
Mailson Alves clipped Mumbai City FC forward Balwant SIngh outside the box, but the referee while rightly adjudging it a foul, wrongly awarded a penalty.
It proved to be a decisive moment in the match as Mumbai City had failed to create any good chances until then. Achille Emana stepped up for the home side and coolly slotted it away to give his side the win as it turned out to be the only goal of the game.
Perhaps its time to introduce video technology in the ISL?
#3 Wasteful Chennaiyin pay the price
As mentioned earlier, despite all the changes made by Gregory, Chennaiyin managed to edge this game for long periods and would be kicking themselves for not having been ahead before Mumbai scored.
Rafi had two glorious chances in the first half, with his head no less, an area where he excels. On the 29th minute, Nworuh from the left played a juicy curling cross into the box for Rafi and the forward looked like he was definitely going to score. But he literally missed it by a hair's breadth; any sort of contact on that and it was a goal. Rafi had another chance a little later from a corner-kick after Mailson had got the knock-on. He made horrible contact though and it turned out into more of a defensive header than an attacking one towards goal.
The start of the second half saw Chennaiyin's best chance yet. Rene Mihelic played Rafi through on goal with just the keeper to beat with a beautiful through ball. Rafi's shot though was palmed away by Amrinder Singh, but the ball fell to an onrushing Thoi Singh who was left with an open goal to tap the ball into. How he missed from point-blank range is anyone's guess?
Those chances had they been put away could have easily seen this match go a different way and seen them come away with wins from both the Maharashtra sides.
#4 Mumbai are proving hard to break down
One of the foundations for Mumbai City's successful campaign last season was their strong defensive setup. They were well-organised and difficult to break down. This season they have continued in much the same vein.
The two most fluent sides in the competition thus far, FC Goa and Bengaluru FC, have played Mumbai and found it tough to break them down. So you know it's going to be tough for the other less potent sides.
Which is why the chances missed by Chennaiyin were so costly. Sides will not enjoy playing Mumbai, but they will want to put away chances when they get them if they aim to be successful.
#5 Gerson shines for Mumbai in a stop-start game
There were plenty of fouls in this game that really stunted the momentum. Chances were at a premium as a result.
Mumbai committed a whopping 23 fouls in this game as they looked to frustrate the visitors. Sehnaj Singh and three of the defenders in their backline did pick up a booking as well but did well to manage themselves for the rest of the game to avoid picking up a second.
Midfielder Gerson Viera had a particularly good game for the hosts. It wasn't the most attractive display or one that wowed the watching public, but he was always in the right place, throwing himself about the pitch to plug away at Chennaiyin attacks.
It was a battling performance from the Brazilian who had 4 clearances and 3 blocks that saw Mumbai City, who rode their luck with Chennaiyin's profligacy as well, pick up three points.
