A hard fought physical battle between Mumbai FC & Mohun Bagan ends in a goalless draw

A NERVY, HARD-FOUGHT, physical battle at the Cooperage saw Mumbai FC share the spoils with visitors Mohun Bagan in a 0-0 draw that was heavily contested till the very last kick. 

Khalid Jamil made three changes in the starting line-up after their unsuccessful trip to Pune. Taisuke, of course, missed the game with an injury. Kshetrimayum Meitei also dropped to the bench. The surprise exclusion from the starting eleven was Ashutosh Mehta. In their stead, Jamil fielded Anwar Ali, Allan Dias the veteran and N.P. Pradeep.

The Mohun Bagan side saw one change enforced by Sanjay Sen; Brandon Fernandes had been left out of the squad due to the temporary suspension of the U-22 rule.

As the game kicked off to a round of intense battle of chants between the two sets of rival fans, the early traffic was in favour of the defending champions.

An early first corner for Bagan saw Sony Norde step up to take it, but the delivery was poor. Cornell Glen was struggling to find form as he got caught offside multiple times in the first twenty minutes.

About ten minutes in, Mumbai FC were catching onto the game. The action moved to the visitors' half of the pitch and Mumbai FC had their first chance when they got a free kick from a scoring range. Ryuki Kozawa took it, but it did little. Soon they had another set-piece, that Eric Brown delivered at a blinding pace, going right into the top right corner. Debjit Majumder dived full-stretched, getting one hand to the ball and preventing what would otherwise have surely been the opening goal of the night.

As the opening minutes passed, it was clear that the Mariners were struggling to create space for themselves comfortably and frequently enough to mount threatening attacks. As the tension rose, so did the physicality. In the midfield as Cornell Glen threatened to advance, Pratik Chauddhari brought him down in a nasty tackle that sent him reeling, clutching his foot. The referee imediately put Pratik in the book. The resulting free-kick went to waste, as a pattern of poor set piece deliveries from Mohun Bagan was beginning to emerge.

A high-intensity physical game continued. Then Bagan got their first real shot on the money. As a scuffle saw the loose ball bounce on the turf, Bikramjit Singh ran in and fired a hard-driven shot at goal that keeper Pawan Kumar had to dive fast towards the right to deflect away for corner.

But that didn't do the visitors any good either and Mumbai FC were able to push ahead and earn a corner for themselves. Arata Izumi took it and delivered it right into the box for Eric Brown. The header from the Liberian striker went right at the goal and Debjit Majumder pulled off yet another brilliant diving save.

Brown continued to be a threat, sending in another good shot that was fast enough but missed the target by a bit.

Mohun Bagan led a counter and Jeje Lalpekhlua was brought down right outside the penalty box. Sony Norde took the free kick and it almost went in, but Pawan Kumar managed to make a sensational dive that kept it out. That ensured that the scoreline remained 0-0 when the long whistle heralded the half-time break.

Soon after the second half started came a few minutes of pressure from Bagan. A double-marked Katsumi Yusa repeatedly tried to make inroads from the right-flank, but it didn't work out. They switched flanks but even Sony Norde was unable to get into a desired spot for taking a crack at the goal.

As Mumbai FC absorbed the pressure and moed forward for their own attack, Luciano Sabrossha brought down Sushil Kumar with a ruthless challenge that caused the striker a good deal of hurt. The referee booked him immediately.

Soon the home team got a chance. It was Arata Izumi making a run down the middle with a breakaway ball. But under pressure he took the shot too early and sent it bouncing aimlessly off target.

A quick pass to Sony Norde deep inside their own half saw the Bagan winger with a rare bit of room to push forward. But as he did so, N.P. Pradeep's boot got in his way, sending him flying in a tangent. The referee rushed in and the yellow card came out again.

Soon it was Katsumi Yusa who was on the receiving end of a tackle by Pratik Chowdhary. The defender was already on a yellow and there were loud appeals from the Mohun Bagan team and supporters for a second booking. The referee, B Balasubramaniam, chose to let him off with a warning instead. Khalid Jamil immediately subbed Pratik off for Asif Kottayil, but the tactic of suppressing Katsumi with fouls continued.

The newcomer Kottayil soon got a harsh welcome when, going up for an aerial ball, his nose clashed with Katsumi's shoulder and he went down clutching his nose. Katsumi however pushed forward despite there being an injured player on the pitch. He moved in deep and managed to get the ball to Sony Norde rushing in from the left. The Haitian winger let fly hard but it went and hit the post. Katsumi banged his hands on the pitch in frustration as the referee called in the medics.

Soon as the game resumed, Katsumi was fouled kust outside the box by Allan Dias. But the resulting free-kick, too, went abegging.

A harsh challenge on N.P. Pradeep saw Bikramjit Singh get on the book too, in a game getting increasingly fiesty and out of the referee's control as the final 15 minutes drew in.

Mumbai FC earned a corner, but Eric Brown's delivery was poor and Bagan were immediately able to make a counter. It was Katsumi on the charge with some space ahead of him, but he pulled the trigger too early leading to a comfortable save by Kumar.

The pressure was on, and the attacks went back and forth. Mumbai FC made a run up the right flank but squandered the ball. Bagan had the chance to move up in counter but they wasted time, waiting for Norde to come down deep and take the ball for them. And when he did, and fed Glen up front, he ruined the moment with a poor touch which allowed the defenders enough time to come back and regroup.

Bagan attacked again, this time Glen feeding Katsumi whose cross was headed out by a defender. It reached Pronay Halder who let fly but it was from too far and went away from target.

Towards the very end, it was Mumbai FC with a free kick from a dangerous position but Debjit Majumder managed to punch it away. A subsequent corner, delivered by Brown, almost went in thanks to a low header but it was Debjit again to the rescue.

The nervy physical battle went on till the very last second but in the end no one could find an opening at the goal. Khalid Jamil's team had managed to grind out yet another 0-0 draw against a big team. This not only kept Mumbai FC in the title race with 9 points from 6 games but also dealt a blow to Mohun Bagan's bid to gain momentum ahead of the match against Bengaluru FC, keeping them at the third place with 11 points from 5 matches.

In the end, it was the home team who obviously came out happier, playing in the absence of some of their chief attackers, yet managing to get a point from one of the toughest attacks in the league.