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Bengaluru FC slumped to their third defeat in a row with a 1-3 result against Mumbai City FC in the 48th match of the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL). Bengaluru FC's confidence was dented early by goals from Mourtada Fall and Bipin Singh and the 2018-19 ISL champions failed to recover from that.
Bengaluru FC had a chance to start off on a perfect note as Cleiton Silva released Deshorn Brown into a lot of space. Brown had time on his hands but he powered it high and wide to lose out on a glorious opportunity.
Thereafter, it was all Mumbai City FC as Raynier Fernandes came up with the first major chance. Raynier delivered a dangerous cross but Gurpreet Singh Sandhu got enough connection to push the ball away from the onrushing Bipin Singh. Just a minute later, Mumbai City FC took the lead through Mourtada Fall as he scored, following a Bipin Singh corner-kick. The Bengaluru FC defense was all over the place and they let Fall come up with a comfortable header past Gurpreet.
The second goal for Mumbai City FC came soon after as Bipin Singh found the back of the net with a sumptuous volley in the 15th minute. Mandar Rao Dessai delivered one of the best crosses of the season to Singh in the center of the box.
Bengaluru FC continued to struggle even after the cooling break as they almost let Adam le Fondre triple Mumbai City FC’s lead. It was a delightful through ball from Hugo Boumous to Mandar, who made a pass to Le Fondre. However, the Englishman’s shot was blocked.
Bengaluru FC manager Carles Cuadrat made a couple of changes at half-time but couldn't make a difference in the team’s game-play. Even Mumbai City FC were subdued as the match got a bit scrappy in the early minutes of the second half.
In the 62nd minute, the duo of Cleiton Silva and Kristian Opseth combined well to create a half-chance for Sunil Chhetri but Mourtada Fall made a good interception. Fall came to Mumbai City FC’s rescue yet again just before the second cooling break when Sunil Chhetri played a nice one-two with Opseth. Fall cleared the ball from Opseth’s feet before the Norwegian could trouble Amrinder Singh.
The Nigerian defender, however, was quite unfortunate when referee CR Srikrishna awarded a penalty to Bengaluru FC. It was given after he made a perfectly fine sliding tackle to clear the ball from Cleiton Silva’s reach.
The skipper Sunil Chhetri scored from the spot but Bengaluru FC conceded yet again through a howler from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. Substitute Bartholomew Ogbeche headed the ball on target from a corner-kick. But Gurpreet dropped the ball into the back of the net after he landed down.
ISL 2020-21, BFC vs MCFC: Who was the Hero of the Match
Winger Bipin Singh was named the ‘Hero of the Match’ for the very first time in his ISL career. The Manipuri player was guilty of missing a few chances against Kerala Blasters FC but he came back strongly by scoring Mumbai City FC’s second goal of the night.
Left-back Mandar Rao Dessai did find him with a lovely cross but there was still a lot of work for Bipin Singh to do. The 25-year-old came up with an acrobatic volley to leave Gurpreet Singh Sandhu stunned. Bipin continued to combine well with Mandar and trouble Bengaluru FC right-back Harmanjot Khabra throughout his time on the field.
