Late Sumeet Passi header enough to grab SCG a precious away win against Mumbai at Fed Cup

A LATE HEADER from young Sumeet Passi was enough to clinch a victory for Sporting Clube de Goa against Mumbai FC away from home, giving them a definite advantage in the double-leg Federation Cup quarter final tie.

The visitors came into this game with a rather cautious approach, being without their main striker Odafa Okolie. And Mumbai FC, who after beating DSK Shivajians by a large margin on the last day of the league chose this day to return to their former extra-defensive draw-grinder self, failed to take any advantage of that.

The first half was a boring affair, with few interesting moments other than the penalty shout when Ashutosh Mehta physically barred Nicholas Fernandes inside the box, but the referee didn't see anything wrong with that.

Things got a bit more interesting in the second half. Densil Theobald of Sporting took a free kick that beat the keeper but went just above the crossbar. Then Jayesh Rane got past everybody but the assistant referee ruled him offside. Young Sumeet Passi had started asserting himself at this point; he took a shot that missed the crossbar by inches. It was as if both teams had finally discovered well-planned and effective attacking play.

Steven Dias almost got Sporting keeper Arindam Bhattacharya with a great volley but the keeper slapped it out. Eric Brown collected the ball and let fly but Arindam was quick enough to make another diving safe. Then Arata Izumi had a one-on-one with Arindam but ended up shooting it straight into the latter's grip. Mumbai FC were wasting chances but seemed more in control of the game... until a move in the last minute changed everything.

Loveday Enyinnaya, newly introduced in the game, sent a peach of a cross into the box and Sumeet Passi used his height well to leap ahead and head it straight into the net. And that was it. Mumbai FC had neither the time nor the resources to save this game. Sporting Clube de Goa clinched victory, 0-1.

A win, and a precious away goal going into the return leg at home. Sporting Clube de Goa got all they could ask for from this game. And as for Mumbai FC, their return to the drab draw-prone self that almost got them relegated from I-League was never going to work out well for them. They now have the onus of taking the fight to SCG away from home if they are to avoid an early knockout. In I-League, the threat of exit provoked enough spark out of them to get two good wins in the last two games. Will it do the same this time in the Cup? We'll have to wait to find out but one thing is for sure: a drastic change is necessary in Khalid Jamil's approach to the game if they are to beat Sporting Clube de Goa at their own backyard.