Mumbai beat Kochi 6-4 in a Premier Futsal goal-fest at the Pedem Sports Complex in Goa on Wednesday. Mumbai had already qualified for the semi-finals before the match, while Kochi just needed a point to do so, but could not manage it. This means that Chennai now have hope to edge Kochi out and qualify.
The Kochi 5s took the lead early via Deives Moraes, before Mumbai came right back with an equaliser from Foglia within seconds. It was Kochi who ended the first quarter as the happier team as Chaguinha slotted home towards the end, after a brilliant assist from Moraes, to make it 2-1. However, Mumbai did not stay behind for too long again as Kevin Ramirez made it 2-2 minutes into the second quarter.
Kochi took the lead yet again as Chaguinha provided a sublime pass to Moraes, who tapped it in. However, at the stroke of half time, Foglia scored his second of the match to make it 3-3. Mumbai then added two more in the third quarter to take the game out of Kochi's reach, via goals from Chanpreet and Angellot. Kochi pulled one back via Chaguinha to make it 5-4, but Mumbai held on and even got one more goal after a counter-attack.
In Wednesday's other game, Bengaluru and Kolkata played out a 1-1 draw. While the result meant Kolkata booked a semi-final spot, Bengaluru were knocked out of contention.
Kolkata took the lead via a penalty, scored by Pula, after Hernan Crespo’s corner kick hit Maxi's hand in the box. Bengaluru tried hard to come back, but struggled to get shots on target. They eventually got the equaliser via Jonathan Piers, who slotted the ball into an open goal.
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