Bottom-placed Mumbai City FC and Kerala Blasters FC cancelled each other out for a 1-1 draw at the DY Patil Stadium on Thursday. To retain any faint chances of qualifying for the playoffs, both teams desperately needed a win out of this key encounter.
Mumbai started off strongly and enjoyed large spells of dominance, before finally making it count in the 25th minute. Haitian Sony Norde, who had his fair share of chances, put in a perfect corner, which Juan Aguilera blasted into the net. Kerala came extremely close a few minutes later when Chris Dagnall's shot was cleared off the line.
The second half was a different story though. The Blasters came out all guns blazing and relentlessly attacked the Mumbai goal. Mumbai held on for dear life and as the half ticked by, it seemed they would escape with all three points. Right at the death, in the 89th minute, Antonio German powered a volley into the far corner to give Kerala a point from the game.
Kerala might even have scored a second, but Chris Dagnall was adjudged offside. Both teams will now have to win their remaining two matches and hope results in other matches go their way to qualify.
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