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The 28th match of the ISL season 2020-21 saw an in-form Mumbai City FC face the focused Jamshedpur FC at GMC Bambolim stadium on Monday night.
After Jamshedpur FC picked up another draw against SC East Bengal, they looked forward to facing the league leaders for their third away match. The Red Miners aimed to break the winning streak of the Islanders, and bag the three points. On the other hand, Mumbai City FC aimed to continue their unbreakable streak and maintain the top position in the league.
Jamshedpur FC took the game underway and the hosts charged right at the Red Miners as they unleashed their first attack in the heart of the Jamshedpur FC box under a minute. The attack was very well blocked by the defence thus denying Mumbai City an early lead. From the very start, Mumbai City FC showed dominance as they took total control of the ball possession and kept charging into the Jamshedpur FC box. Jamshedpur FC made the most out of the little possession they got as they netted an early goal thus taking them into a comfortable position in the contest. A poor defensive error by Ogbeche was well intercepted by Jacki; he was rapid with the ball as he got into the box and passed it to Valskis who was left unmarked by the defence. Valskis did not make any mistake and comfortably put the ball into the right corner thus taking Jamshedpur FC to lead within 10 minutes of the kick-off.
Mumbai City FC did not back down after conceding early in the game; they came back stronger with a fast-paced attack towards the Jamshedpur FC defence. With a smart set piece, Mumbai City successfully equalised the score as Ogbeche took a clean strike at goal which Rehenesh could not fully block away. Mumbai City FC came back into the game in no time as the score was 1-1.
The game picked up pace after the teams were all equal. Unfortunately, Jamshedpur FC took a heavy hit right before the drinks break. Aitor came in rough contact with Mumbai City midfielder Rowlinn Borges as their legs clashed and both the players went down on the field. The referee analysed the tackle as a rough challenge from Aitor and asked him to walk off as he was shown his second yellow. Needless to say, the Spaniard was displeased with the decision taken by the referee.
The pressure came back on Jamshedpur FC as their lead was lost and they were a man down as well. Mumbai City FC took complete advantage of the situation as they kept invading the Jamshedpur box, looking to up their lead with multiple attempts at goal. But, Jamshedpur FC held their position well as they cleared away all the threats from the hosts. With this, an energetic half came to an end with both the teams at level but not equal in number of players on the field.
The second half kicked off with the ball hardly being in Jamshedpur FC’s contact; Mumbai City made sure the ball possession stayed on their side. The hosts got a close chance to take the lead as Cy Goddard whipped in a dangerous ball into the box which got deflected off Valskis’ head and came into Mourtada Fall’s possession in the left corner of the post. Even with a clear chance at goal, Fall put the ball off the frame thus missing the opportunity to up the lead for Mumbai City.
Jamshedpur FC took another hit as their chance to gain the lead was denied by the linesman official. Valskis collected the ball inside the box and slammed the ball in the corner of the net. Unfortunately, the referee disallowed the goal as the flag went up with Valskis being caught way behind the offside line. As both the sides desperately looked to secure another goal and earn the lead, Mumbai City went all-out attacking in the last final moments of the match while the Red Miners did a splendid job of keeping the ball away from the goal.
With Peter Hartley’s brilliant interceptions and blocks combined with Rehenesh’s lightning speed reactions to the ball aimed at the goal, Jamshedpur FC denied the hosts every chance at scoring thus making it difficult for Mumbai City FC to grab those three points.
Finally, the heated contest came to end as Jamshedpur FC’s efforts to keep the ball away from the box paid off, even with a vital man missing on the field, with the full-time score being 1-1 and both teams walking away with one point each.
