Mumbai City finished with the top spot in the 2016 edition of the Indian Super League, courtesy of a 0-0 draw at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai on Saturday.
Far from the thrilling 3-3 draw between the teams at Delhi, there was very little adventure from both sides. There was attacking intent in the final quarter of the game, though. Mumbai struck the bar through Cafu’s powerful left-foot shot and a minute later, Bruno Pelissari struck the post with a deflected effort.
Cafu and Pelissari had decent tries in the first-half too but those were mere half-chances. Diego Forlan was subdued during the first 45 and sprang to life with a couple of neat touches and a wicked free-kick in the second.
The ball was bogged down in midfield for large spells and there were too many passes going sideways and backwards, especially from the Dynamos. Delhi’s keeper Toni Doblas had a nervy moment less than 10 minutes to go for the end of the game as he spilled a regulation take. Luckily for him, the referee blew the whistle against Mumbai for a foul.
Florent Malouda, who also had a quiet game by his standards, made a powerful run in the final minute of stoppage time, but was calmly stopped in his tracks by the Mumbai defence. Seconds later, the referee blew the whistle to bring an end to a largely uneventful game of football.
With 23 points, Mumbai City FC top the table, followed by Delhi Dynamos with 21. Atletico de Kolkata currently hold the third spot with 20 points, but they will drop to fourth in the table if Kerala Blasters (19 points) or NorthEast United (18 points) win the final round-robin game of the season.
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