ISL 2018-19: NorthEast United FC 0-1 Mumbai City FC - 5 Talking Points

#3 Mumbai's defensive wall stands firm

Mumbai City FC's Souvik Chakrabarti clears the ball [Image: ISL]

If one has to summarise the game in short, then one can say that NorthEast United played and created chances while Mumbai defended and won. Mumbai in total had only three clear-cut chances to score - all from counter attacks. One needs to have a look at the match replay to count the number of assaults NEUFC mounted on the Mumbai goal.

The defence of Lucian Goian, Joyner Lourenco, Souvik Chakrabarti and Subhasish Bose stood firm for the 96 odd minutes that were played and saw out wave after wave of NEUFC attacks.

The man who was most responsible for Mumbai getting the win was their goalkeeper Amrinder Singh. The Punjabi shot-stopper was brilliant throughout the game, and the way he commanded the D-Box was commendable.

Almost always he nullified NorthEast United's crosses by coming out of his line and catching the aerial balls. He made good use of his physical presence to outmuscle the NEUFC strikers during set pieces. He also pulled off some stunning saves from close quarters to ensure Mumbai left Guwahati with all three points in their kitty.

The Islanders have their whole defensive unit to thank for the victory tonight.