ISL 2019-20 | Mumbai City FC 2-1 Jamshedpur FC: 3 Reasons Why the Islanders triumphed

Amine Chermiti.
Amine Chermiti.

Mumbai City FC played host to Jamshedpur FC in their second last game of the Indian Super League with both sides looking for a victory. Mumbai City FC wanted the win to solidify their place in the table whereas Jamshedpur needed the win to keep their hopes of a playoff spot alive.

The match started on a positive note from both sides with Mumbai City FC having a goal disallowed in the first five minutes. Jamshedpur FC took the lead in the seventh minute through a Noe Acosta penalty.

Mumbai City FC tried their best to equalise in the first half itself but failed to do so. Jamshedpur kept attacking the Mumbai goal throughout the first half. At the half-time break, Mumbai were trailing 1-0.

Mumbai City made two changes at half time, and it did pay dividends as they equalised within the first 15 minutes of the second half. Amine Chermiti headed it in from a Diego Carlos corner in the 60th minute to give Mumbai the equaliser. The half time changes worked wonders for Mumbai City FC as Bidyananda Singh scored in added time to help Mumbai City FC secure all three points from the game.

On that note let us take a look three reasons why Mumbai City FC won the game today against Jamshedpur FC.

#3 Half time changes work wonders for Mumbai City FC

Bidyananda Singh.
Bidyananda Singh.

Mumbai City FC was trailing 1-0 at the half time break. Coach Jorge Costa made two changes to his side at the half time break by bringing in Sergey Kevin and Bidyananda Singh in place of Raynier Fernandes and Sourav Das.

The changes worked wonders for Mumbai City FC. It was Bidyananda Singh who finally scored the winning goal for Mumbai City FC in added time to give Mumbai City the much-needed win.

Another change that Mumbai City made at half time was the way they took their set pieces from giving Diego Carlos the duty of taking corner kicks to the way they lined up during corners. The change worked wonders as Mumbai City FC scored the equaliser in the 60th minute from a Diego Carlos corner which was headed home by Chemti.

The introduction of Bidyananda Singh in midfield had a massive impact on the game as the Manipuri midfielder combined well with Rowllin Borges to give Mumbai much needed upper hand in the middle of the park.

#2 Inexperience at the back and lacklustre display upfront cost Jamshedpur FC badly

Youngster Sandip Mandi(Jamshedpur FC No. 19) had a difficult time.
Youngster Sandip Mandi(Jamshedpur FC No. 19) had a difficult time.

The back four for Jamshedpur FC today was Sandip Mandi, Joyner Laurenco, Memo and Narender Gahlot. Except for Memo none of the others has much experience in the Indian Super League. Sandip Mandi, the 17-year-old left-back of Jamshedpur FC, had an especially tough game as the likes of Raynier Fernandes and Sergey Kevin didn't give the young lad a moments peace with their constant run down the flanks.

Jamshedpur has been missing their natural captain and leader Tiri in defence as the Spanish defender is out for the season with an injury. The absence of Tiri at the heart of the Jamshedpur defence has also meant that Jamshedpur has lost a leader on the pitch. Today there were many instances when the team and the defence lacked a leader.

The Jamshedpur midfielders did try and create a couple of openings, but the forwards missed whatever few chances came to them from open play.

The only goal that Jamshedpur scored came from the penalty spot. David Grande and Sergio Castel weren't their usual best, and both were guilty of missing some chances for Jamshedpur FC. Aniket Jadhav was another player who was guilty of overdoing a couple of times. He also held the ball for extended durations which often led to Jamshedpur missing out on a quick break.

Today the inexperience of the young Jamshedpur players played a big part in their decision making which cost them the game.

#1 Mumbai City FC's defence and Goalkeeper show composed maturity to see out a victory

Mumbai FC fight back
Mumbai FC fight back

It all started in the worst possible manner for Mumbai City FC, as they conceded from a penalty in the 7th minute. It was a rash tackle by Sourav Das inside the box which led to Jamshedpur FC being awarded the penalty. After the incident though the Mumbai City FC back four comprising of Md. Rafique, Pratik Chaudhari, Mato Grgic, and Subhasish Bose pulled up their socks and played an excellent composed game. They were backed up brilliantly by their keeper Amrinder Singh who made some stunning saves to help Mumbai City FC clinch the victory.

In the few instances when the Mumbai defence was beaten Jamshedpur failed to score as Amrinder made some excellent saves. The likes of Mato and Rafique made some excellent goal-line clearance.

Mumbai City FC's wingbacks Md. Rafique and Subhasish Bose also made frequent overlapping runs which kept the Jamshedpur defenders busy and stopped them from overlapping. Subhasish Bose also had an outstanding attempt at goal only to be denied by Subrata Pal's heroics.

Jorge Costa would be happy with the performance his defenders put in especially in the second half.

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