Half Time Report: Mumbai show heart in final act, Bad refereeing plays spoilsport in exciting half

Starting Line-Ups:

Atletico de Kolkata - Juan Calatayud, Nalappan Mohanraj, Tiri, Arnab Mondal, Iain Hume, Jaime Gavilan, Borja Fernandez, Rino Anto, Arata Izumi, Sameehg Doutie, Mohammed Rafique

Mumbai City FC - Subrata Pal, Rowilson Rodrigues, Pavel Cmovs, Frantz Bertin, Keegan Pereira, Pratesh Shirodkar, Thangjam Singh, Selim Benachour, Cristian Bustos, Sony Norde, Sunil Chhetri

HARDENED TRAVELLERS Mumbai City started their final act of ISL 2015 on a good note as they dominated Atletico de Koltata for most of the first half. They took the lead through a Sony Norde goal then conceded an equalizer via an Iain Hume penalty, both of which came into being due to refereeing errors.

Antonio Habas, seeking a top-of-the-table finish to the campaign, put out a strong team against bottom-table Mumbai City, makin 3 changes to the side; deploying Juan Calatayud at goal, and drafting Mohammed Rafique and Nalappan Mohanraj back into the starting eleven.

Nicolas Anelka made 5 changes. Pavel Cmovs, Kegan Pereira, Selim Benachour, Thangjam Singh and Pratesh Shirodkar got to start in Mumbai City's last match of the season. 

Mumbai City, who came into the game thoroughly underprepared, looked good from the start. Sony Norde, playing in his old stomping ground in front of his old fans, came alive early on. He got in early on, sending a good cross to Sunil Chhetri but it got intercepted by Augustine Fernandes. Then ATK rose in a counter, with Hume invading the Mumbai box but shooting just wide. 

But an early injury forced Mumbai to make a substitution; Rowilson had to be replaced by Ashutosh Mehta. 

But as the minutes passed, Mumbai emerged as the side clearly dominating and at the helm of it all was Sony Norde. He sent in a good free kick for Chhetri to head in but the Indian skipper sent it wide. And then Sony scored. 

It wasn't a goal actually. A pass from Selim Benachour saw Sony Norde stand offside inside the penalty box but the linesman did not notice that. Sony got the ball and with only Calatayud in front of him, slotted it in with his left foot from close range. One nil to the visitors.

Atletico de Kolkata, however, slowly worked their way back into the game and more than once caught Mumbai defence off guard. Subrata's attempted clearance from the edge of the box reached Iain Hume who had an empty goal to shoot into but he misfired. Then a corner kick delivered by Gavilan saw Subrata fumble and fall trying to collect it but the defenders managed to clear it. 

Then Selim Benachour made a brilliant move, getting past ATK defenders and feeding Chhetri inside the box with only the keeper ahead but the Indian captain failed to keep it on target once again.

And then came the twist in the tale. Mohammed Rafique knocked into Pavel Cmovs when the latter was trying to shield the ball from him inside the penalty box and the referee, for some reason, saw it as a foul, flashed Pavel a yellow and pointed at the penalty spot. The decision was as ridiculous as allowing Sony's goal in early in the half. But it stood, even after a few short arguments with the referee. Iain Hume took the penalty and sent Subrata the other way. It was 1-1, moments before the half-time whistle rang out.

Mumbai City have surprised everyone with their flow and agility tonight, especially in their attacks. Had Chhetri not made those easy misses they would be sitting on a comfortable lead right now. But ATK aren't doing bad either and the match can go to either team in the second half. The fact that both goals in the first period were results of poor refereeing decisions does a disservice to these two teams' performance.