Mumbai Football Club scored their one of the most memorable win in I-League when they beat East Bengal 2-1 in the 12th Round match at the Balewadi Sports Complex Stadium, Pune on Sunday.
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Gabriel Fernandes drew the first blood with a bullet of a shot over East Bengal goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's stretched hands as Mumbai FC showed total domination on home turf. In a match that saw several rough tackles --Mumbai FC Darren Caldeira was rushed to hospital with injuries -- seven minutes were added into the regulation time.
There was no doubt which team was on the up and taking advantage of the situation, Mumbai FC striker Yusuf Yakubu made it 2-0 in the fifth minute of injury time before East Bengal found a consolation goal through Chidi Edeh in the final minute of the match.
The match opened with East Bengal making several forays, but a disjointed forward-line hardly helped. Harmanjot Khabra had a real chance to put East Bengal ahead in the 14th minute, but Abhshek Yadav cleared the shot with a header in front of the goal.
After going into break goalless, Mumbai began the second half proceedings on a defensive note. East Bengal on the other hand relied fully on Chidi to do the damage.
The win propelled Mumbai FC to 19 points from 12 matches as they climbed one step on the I-League ladder to No. 5, pushing Prayag United SC down to 6th position. East Bengal stay at No. 4 with 21 points.
Photograph: AIFF Media
