So, it's the rise of OdishaFC. They can win, that too far away from home. And spurring it were Spaniard Aridane Santana and Indian Jerry Mawihmingthanga. The young Mizo was brilliant and deservedly won the man of the match award for his two assists and a strike. Aridane found a brace after fellow Spaniard Xisco Hernandez opened the floodgates. For the hosts, Mohamed Larbi and Bipin Thounaojam scored. The result means that Mumbai are fifth with four points (one win, one draw and one defeat). They had a chance to go joint-top but wasted it. Odisha are just behind them, at sixth with three points (one win and two defeats). Tomorrow, we have a biggie. NorthEast host FC Goa.
Catch highlights of the Mumbai City Vs Odisha FC ISL match here:
Full-Time: Mumbai City 2-4 Odisha FC
90+5' - GOAL! Francisco Dorronsoro exposes his near post and lets in a bizarre goal. Goal for Bipin Thounaojam. Despite that, Odisha win 4-2. Finally laughter for the new team.
90+3' - A very late corner for Mumbai as Chermiti does just enough to create a dead-ball situation from debutant Valpuia's pass. And hero of the match is Jerry Mawihmingthanga. A goal and a assist for the Mizo teen.
90' - Amine Cherminiti releases one for Mohamed Larbi, again. But the Indian fails to reach the ball for his header. And five minutes added on.
88' - Massive clearance from Narayan Das, after three attempts. Mumbai's free-kick looked ominous. No harm was done, though.
86' - Mumbai increase the tempo but so far without the end result. Amine Chermiti goes solo inside the Odisha box and up against Diawandou Diagne. Fails.
83' - Mohamed Larbi goes for the tightest of angles to beat Francisco Dorronsoro from the right. And side netting.
81' - Aridane Santana releases the ball for Romeo Fernandes on the left flank, then the Indian takes it with a brilliant first touch, and another to make room for himself. And misses the far upright. Should have hit the target, at least.
79' - Another change for Odisha. Vinit Rai makes way for Daniel Lalhlimpuia.
77' - Bipin almost makes an impact. A relatively better cross, but Serge Kevyn manages to find Francisco Dorronsoro with his header. Mumbai doing not enough.
76' - SUB for Mumbai. Bipin Thounajam in for Paulo Machado.
72' - GOAL! Sublime delivery from young Jerry Mawihmingthanga and Aridane Santana heads home one of his easiest goals to make it 4-1 for Odisha. Game over. The Spaniard is now the joint leading scorer this season, alongside David Williams of ATK.
70' - Diego Carlos gets another very good chance from close quarters, but Francisco Dorronsoro turns up with wings. Brilliant save. A couple of attempts from the following play, and ends up an off-side.
68' - Sub for Odisha. Romeo Fernandes in for Nandakumar Sekar.
67' - Shubham Sarangi is standing like a rock tonight for Odisha. Diego Carlos tries to beat him but the Indian put his body to the best use and goal kick for the visitors.
64' - A little one-two between Jerry Mawihmingthanga and Aridane Santana, but the Spaniard's final attempt fails to test Amrinder Singh. And SUB for Odisha. Xisco out, Martin Guedes in. Foreigner for a foreigner.
62' - Shubham Sarangi wasted a very chance from a very good move involving the likes of Xisco Hernandez, Aridane Santana and Tebar keep. The Indian upstart, having relayed the ball just outside the ball, decided to go for the glory and mighty high, it turned out to be. And this is football, not cricket.
58' - Booking for Mumbai midfielder Raynier Fernandez for a foul on Jerry Mawihmingthanga.
55' - And the farce continues. A handball by an Odisha defender and the referee can't see it. It was followed by a nasty foul by an Odisha defender for another penalty which was not given. Even both the coaches are having a LAUGH, together. Arumughan Rowan is the man with the big whistle!
51' - GOAL!What a farce. This referee is a joke. Francisco Dorronsoro collides with Serge Kevyn, or the other way round. And a penalty. The referee's the only man on the planet who sees that collision as a penalty. And Mohamed Larbi gleefully converts it.
50' - A relatively good start from Mumbai. Raynier Fernandes tries to find Paulo Machado with a floater, but not enough flight on it. Shubham Sarangi clears the threat for Odisha. Then, Diego Carlos links up with Kevyn.
46' - Sub for Mumbai City FC during the break. Valpuia in for Subhasish Bose.
It will take some time for Mumbai to realise what had hit them. And they have only one break. Xisco Hernandez opened the floodgates, then made Aridane Santana it doubled. And it became three-nil with Jerry Mawihmingthanga slotting home.
First-Half: Mumbai City 0-3 Odisha FC
45+2' - Raynier Fernandes goes for a long ranger, but straight to Francisco Dorronsoro. And with that first-half is over.
45' - Two minutes added one. Moments ago, Mumbai won a free-kick and wasted.
42' - Mumbai will concede more. A backpass almost beat Amrinder. Desperate defending.
40' - GOAL! What are we seeing? Odisha were supposed to be playing the minnows. And inside 40 minutes, they are up 3-0 with Jerry Mawihmingthanga scoring the third. Nandha Kumar's vision in the build-up was exceptional.
39' - Bose is back. Surprised everyone. He looked done and dusted moments ago, and is now up. Miracles. Odisha continue to press hard and Mumbai are forced to play the rolling the ball in their final third.
36' - Corner for Odisha. Xisco's delivery from the flag almost beat Amrinder. Another corner, and in the ensuing play, Aridane Santana brings down Subhashis Bose, and Amrinder gets himself booked for remonstrating. Yellow for both Aridane and Amrinder. Bose stretchered off.
31' - Serge Kevyn, again. Pity, he didn't find the target. Another Paulo Machado ball for Kevyn, and the Gabonese's sliding kick just missed the top corner.
27' - Serge Kevyn can truly turn the game for Mumbai. He gets a ball from skipper Paulo Machado at the edge of the box. But too much effort in the final attempt kills it.
25' - It could have been three-nil. A long ranger and the deflection from a 'fisting' Amrinder Singh. Nandhakumar, what an attempt. Already six attempts for the visitors. Two loses but not losing hearts.
21' - GOAL! What a play from Odisha. Jerry Mawihmingthanga gets a brilliant through ball from Shubham Sarangi. The Mizoram wonder-kid waits and makes a turn to minus it from the left flank, and Aridane Santana beats the goalkeeper with a low drive on the right. Tow-Nil.
17' - So far, Rafique is having a good game. Meanwhile, Shubham Sarangi commits and concedes a free-kick after a foul on Subhasish Bose.
14' - Kevyn and Chermiti on a good one-two before Diagne come into the picture. Mumbai win their first corner. Nothing comes of it though.
11' - First booking of the match. Vinit Rai of Odisha FC gets a yellow card for pulling down Diego Carlos.
8' - Mumbai City get on with the match with Rafique scorching on the flank, but Serge fails to make the most out of the move.
6' - GOAL! Here comes one of the SOFTEST goals you will ever get in the ISL. A very good pass from Aridane Santana and Xisco Hernandez takes all the time in the world to stop, turn and measure before shooting. And it goes through. Hope we could bring you the live visuals.
2' - Massive clearance after Jerry Mawihmingthanga gets himself set with the first chance of the match. Good start from Odisha.
7:03 PM IST: Big moment! Can he guide his side to a victory tonight?
7:00 PM IST: Line-ups!
6:54 PM IST: Gombau feels his team has lost matches due to small mistakes but they have been playing good quality football: “I think the team is doing well and we don't deserve to get zero points. I am confident that the team will do well (vs Mumbai City)."
6:48 PM IST: Costa - "Odisha FC, earlier Delhi Dynamos FC, played pretty well last season and created a lot of opportunities too. We must respect them and I know that it won't be easy. I'm not hundred percent happy after our two games. We still have to work harder and do well. My players work hard daily and are happy together."
JOURNEY SO FAR (MUMBAI CITY) - They started their season with two away games in a row against Kerala Blasters FC and Chennaiyin FC. They managed to take all three points in Kochi before managing a draw in Chennai.
6:40 PM IST: Jorge Costa's Mumbai City FC are known to sit back and absorb pressure as they look to hit teams on the break. While Costa doesn't put much emphasis on possession-based football, Josep Gombau's Odisha FC are very much comfortable on the ball and like to hog possession.
6:00 PM IST: Here are the squads
Mumbai City FC: GK-Amrinder Singh (1), Ravi Kumar (22), Kunal Sawant (30); DF - Pratik Chaudhari (2), Anwar Ali (3), Mato Grgic (4), Subhasish Bose (15), Sarthak Golui (16), Souvik Chakrabarti (23), Hmingthanmawia aka Valpuia (31), Davinder Singh (32); MF - Sourav Das (5), Mohammed Rafique (8), Paulo Machado (captain, 10), Raynier Fernandes (11), Bidyananda Ningthoujam (12), Rowllin Borges (14), Vignesh Dakshinamurthy (19), Mohamed Larbi (21), Surchandra (27), Bipin Thounajam (29); FW - Serge Kevyn (7), Amine Chermiti (9), Pranjal Bhumij (17), Diego Carlos (18), Alen Deory (25), Modou Sougou (28).
Coach: Jorge Costa
Odisha FC: GK - Albino Gomes (1), Francisco Dorronsoro (13), Ankit Bhuyan (30), Arshdeep Singh (31); DF - Mohammad Sajid Dhot (3), Gaurav Bora (4), Narayan Das (21), Carlos Delgado (23), Rana Gharami (26), Lalchhuanmawia (27), Amit Tudu (33), MF - Diawandou Diagne (5), Bikramjit Singh (6), Marcos Tebar (captain, 8), Xisco Hernandez (10), Martin Perez Guedes (11), Shubham Sarangi (15), Vinit Rai (16), Jerry Mawihmingthanga (17), Romeo Fernandes (19), Nanda Kumar (22), Lalhrezuala Sailung (44), Van Lal Remtluanga Chhangte (45); FW - Aridane Santana (9), Daniel Lalhlimpuia (14), Seiminmang Manchong (41)
Coach: Josep Gombau
Premise:
The fanfare apart, the arrival of India's top football league at Bhubaneshwar in Odisha with the blessings of the ruling dispensation is being hailed as a positive step, in parts, towards helping the world's most important sport gain a foothold in the country. Odisha, the coastal state, has indeed established itself as the new centre of Indian sports and will continue to witness international stars across sports in the many stadiums erected or otherwise refurbished during the last few years. But the fate of Odisha FC, probably the only franchise in the Indian Super League (ISL) which has the backing of a state government, have failed to take off to the chagrin of many. They have lost both the matches played so far, and now face an uphill task when they face Mumbai City tonight. They lost to ten-man Jamshedpur 1-2 and NorthEast United by the same margin. In contrast, the hosts have started their 2019-20 season on a positive note -- beating Kerala Blasters 1-0 and holding Chennaiyin FC despite one man down to a goalless draw in away games. And they will hope for a win against a clueless Odisha outfit in their first home game. As things stand now, Mumbai are fifth in the points table with four points while Odisha are languishing at ninth, without a point.
