10 man Mumbai FC grind out a draw against Sporting Clube de Goa in 2-2 nail-biter

MUMBAI FC ONE AGAIN fell short of a win at home but managed to avoid defeat after they ended a highly contested match against Sporting Clube de Goa at 2-2 after playing the entire second half with 10 men.

But Khalid Jamil had fielded a squad designed specifically to overthrow the one-month winless run Mumbai FC have been on. Coupled with the new signings as well as players returning from injury, the home team's starting line up looked nothing like the one that lost to Aizawl on the road. At goal, there was Sandip Nandy. Ashutosh Mehta and Pratik Chowdhary were back. There were N.P. Pradip and Darren Caldeira lining up. Even Rohit Mirza got a start. They were still missing both Taisuke and Min-chol Son but it was looking better. Sporting Clube de Goa featured Pratesh Shirodkar and Syrian medio Mamoud Amnah back in the first eleven.

And it was Amnah who got the match going in an explosive fashion by getting on the end of a nicely lifted ball and sending it in with a header. Bur minutes latewr Ryuki Kozawa got Mumbai FC back into the game with a brilliant lob that left the goalkeeper watching as the ball went straight past him into the net. 17 minutes in, the match was already 1-1. 

But things took a turn for the worse for Mumbai FC when N.P. Pradeep made two successive reckless tackles and ended up getting sent off at the end of the first half. 

Going into second half a man short, Rohit Mirza was substituted with Jayesh Rane at the break and just after the restart; the move paid off as Rane netted one for Mumbai 52 minutes in.The forward made a speedy run into the box and looked for options beside him. He then decided to do the unthinkable and slotted the ball home through the legs of the goalkeeper.

But Mumbai's joy was shortlived as Sporting crawled back into the game again. A minute before the hour mark, midfielder Pratesh Shirodkar came in from the right which brought Mumbai custodian Pawan Kumar off his line. Shirodkar then played it to his teammate Victorino who tapped into an unguarded net.

Mumbai came close to grabbing the winner a little while later, but Kozawa's shot was brilliantly cleared off the line by Sporting's Nigerian defender Loveday Enyinnaya.

Victorino found himself in a one on one situation with the keeper at the other end, but his shot fizzed narrowly wide off the post.

Both sides had their chances in the last few minutes, but could not add to their tally. The match ended 2-2 and neither club would be too happy about the result. Mumbai FC failed to get a win at home that they so seeked so desperately, and Sporting Clube de Goa couldn't clinch a victory against a team that played half the game with 10 men. Sharing points means neither managed to shake things up in the league table; Sporting Clube remain 4th with 12 points from 9 games, and Mumbai are still 6th with 10 points from the same number of matches. 

Mumbai will look to finally turn things around for themselves when they host Aizawl FC on Wednesday, while Sporting Clube de Goa have a job on their hand come Tuesday as league leaders Mohun Bagan pay them a visit.