Mumbai City FC dominated possession but were held to a 1-1 draw by Jamshedpur FC in the Indian Super League at the Mumbai Football Arena in Mumbai in an early match on Saturday.
Later, Hyderabad FC remained unbeaten in the ISL this season after a narrow 1-0 victory over Bengaluru FC at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium, in Hyderabad. Bartholomew Ogbeche (83’) got the only goal of the game to keep Hyderabad FC at the top of the league table.
Both clubs headed into this match undefeated with four points on board after two matches. The two sides were quite solid at the back in the first-half with neither goalkeeper needing to make any saves.
Hyderabad started the second half with more urgency. Ogbeche took a shot from range in the 55th minute and Halicharan Narzary came close three minutes later but the shots were wide. Javier Hernandez - filling in for Roy Krishna - also took a shot from range in between that period, and tested Laxmikant Kattimani for the first time.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 83rd minute by Ogbeche, giving Hyderabad a 1-0 lead. Borja Herrera’s corner was tamely pushed by Gurpreet Sandhu into the path of Ogbeche, who headed home his second goal of the campaign. That was enough for Hyderabad to get all three points. They now sit on seven points, with Bengaluru on four.
Hyderabad will be host FC Goa next on 29th October, in matchweek 4, whereas the Blues will be heading to the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar to face Odisha FC on 27th October.
In the earlier kick-off in Mumbai, After a win in their last game, the Islanders made no changes to their starting lineup for this encounter. The Red Miners made two changes to the side that lost to Odisha FC in the last game. Pratik Chaudhari replaced Peter Hartley in defence, and Harry Sawyer replaced Farukh Choudhary at the other end of the pitch.
In the opening stages of the game, both sides tested the waters in the final third. Jamshedpur FC won a corner in the second minute of the game, but Wellington Priori’s ball was too high for any of the players to reach. At the other end, Bipin Singh found Stewart with a brilliant cross from the left flank. The Scot was unmarked, but his header was straight at the keeper.
Eight minutes into the game, the deadlock was broken. Stewart played in a low ball across the face of goal as Chhangte darted towards it to bury it. Four minutes later, parity was restored. Priori’s long throw from the right was flicked on by Sawyer before Chukwu rose highest to head the ball into the top-right corner.
In the final quarter of the game, Mumbai City FC did not take their foot off the pedal and continued to press Jamshedpur FC into their own half. The visitors dealt with the pressure well and relied on rare counters to move forward. Opportunities fell to both sides in the dying moments of the game, but neither side capitalised on them as the game ended in a stalemate.
The Islanders will travel south to face Kerala Blasters FC in their next game on 28th October, Friday while The Red Miners will return home to host NorthEast United FC on 30th October, Sunday.
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