Mumbai City FC dominated possession but were held to a 1-1 draw by Jamshedpur FC in their Indian Super League match here on Saturday. (More Football News)
Hosts Hyderabad FC remained unbeaten in the tournament after a narrow 1-0 victory over Bengaluru FC in Hyderabad in the second match of the day.
Lallianzuala Chhangte put the hosts in front after eight minutes before Daniel Chukwu levelled the score four minutes later.
Jamshedpur's star player from last season, Greg Stewart, was threatening in attack and made the assist for Mumbai's goal, but was neutralized by his former club for the rest of the game.
In the opening stages of the game, both sides tested the waters in the final third. Jamshedpur FC won a corner in the second minute of the game, but Wellington Priori's ball was too high for any of the players to reach.
At the other end, Bipin Singh found Stewart with a brilliant cross from the left flank. The Scot was unmarked, but his header was straight at the keeper.
Eight minutes into the game, the deadlock was broken. Stewart played in a low ball across the face of goal as Chhangte darted towards it to bury it. Four minutes later, parity was restored. Priori's long throw from the right was flicked on by Sawyer before Chukwu rose highest to head the ball into the top-right corner.
In the final quarter of the game, Mumbai City FC did not take their foot off the pedal and continued to press Jamshedpur FC into their own half. The visitors dealt with the pressure well and relied on rare counters to move forward. Opportunities fell to both sides in the dying moments of the game, but neither side capitalised on them as the game ended in a stalemate.
The Islanders will travel south to face Kerala Blasters FC in their next game on 28th October, Friday while The Red Miners will return home to host NorthEast United FC on 30th October, Sunday.
Hyderabad Beat Bengaluru To Remain Unbeaten
Bartholomew Ogbeche scored a late second-half goal to extend Hyderabad FC's unbeaten run as the hosts eked out a 1-0 win over Bengaluru FC.
Both clubs headed into this match undefeated with four points on the board after two matches. The two sides were quite solid at the back in the first half with neither goalkeeper needing to make any saves.
Bengaluru FC captain Sunil Chhetri, who was making his 100th appearance for the club and became the first player to achieve this for a single ISL club, showed his composure and quality every time he got on the ball, but Hyderabad FC did a good job of making sure he wasn’t being supplied with the ball regularly.
Jayesh Rane started his first game of the season for Bengaluru FC, but they faced the same ball retention issues again.
Hyderabad FC started the second half with more urgency. Ogbeche took a shot from range in the 55th minute and Halicharan Narzary came close three minutes later but the shots were wide.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 83rd minute by Ogbeche, giving Hyderabad FC a 1-0 lead.
Borja Herrera’s corner was tamely pushed by Gurpreet Sandhu into the path of Ogbeche, who headed home his second goal of the campaign. That was enough for Hyderabad FC to get all three points. They now sit on seven points, with Bengaluru FC on four.
Hyderabad FC will be hosting FC Goa next on October 29, whereas Bengaluru FC will be heading to the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar to face Odisha FC on October 27.
