Mumbai City FC maintained their cent per cent record on home turf with a 1-0 win over former champions Chennaiyin FC to move into fifth spot in the fourth edition of the Indian Super League (ISL).
Achille Emana Edzimbi scored the lone goal of the match from the spot in the 60th minute to help the host register their second win of the campaign and take their points tally to seven from five games. The loss meant that Chennaiyin remained on nine points.
The visitors came into the game with a chance to go on top of the standings if they could earn even a point from the encounter while the hosts were desperately seeking a win to get their campaign back on track.
Both teams took quite a bit of time to find any fluidity in the game and, for the first 20 minutes the game saw more rash tackles than impressive moves and two unnecessary yellow cards for the home team.
Chennaiyin FC needing more time to settle down was probably understandable as the visitors had made four changes to their starting line-up from their last game against ATK with Jeje Lalpekhlua and Brazilian recruit Raphael Augusto replaced by Jude Nworuh and Mohammed Rafi.
The hosts, on the other hand, were unchanged and would consider themselves lucky for not getting more than the two bookings, especially since defender Mehrajuddin Wadoo was guilty of elbowing Rafi from the back in the 10th minute but his act went unnoticed by referee Ranjit Bakshi.
Mumbai City FC slowly but surely began piecing things together thereafter as their Cameroonian midfielder Achille Emana Edzimbi began asserting himself on the game. The 35-year-old was central to every move made by the hosts but none of his teammates could provide a finishing touch.
Brazilian midfielder Santos couldn’t get enough power in his header off a cross from Gerson Vieria in the 15th minute and Spaniard Rafael Jorda hit the ball wide after Emana plays him in the opposition box.
While Mumbai City continued to have more control over the proceedings thereafter the visitors would have ended up ruing the lack of verve in the final third had Rafi managed to end the half on a high. Thoi Singh sent in a brilliant cross from the right towards the unmarked Rafi but the 35-year-old’s header to the left of goalkeeper Amrinder Singh was not strong enough to beat the custodian.
Rafi could have broken the deadlock four minutes after the restart after receiving a through ball from Rene Mihelic but the striker once again failed to beat Amrinder and Thoi couldn’t connect to the rebound despite a desperate slide.
It finally took the Emana-Balwant Singh combination to find a way to break a deadlock. The Cameroonian played the Indian forward on the left and Mailson Alves bring him down inside the box and Emana slots the ball home with ease at the hour mark.
The 35-year-old just tapped the ball in after waiting for Karanjit to commmit himself by diving to the left.
The hosts could have killed the game 15 minutes later when Jorda received a long ball from Everton Santos on the counter with the Spaniard needed just custodian Karanjit Singh to beat. However, he could only chip the ball over the cross bar while trying to beat the advancing goalkeeper.
Chennaiyin FC had by then started to push forward in numbers with coach John Gregory bringing in Jeje and Augusto to find an equaliser. The hosts were content to defend deep and looked for a counter with Jorda the lone man upfront.
Jorda couldn’t convert any of the chances that came his way but the Mumbai City FC defence stood strong under pressure and ensured that the sizeable crowd at the Mumbai Football Arena had a lot to cheer about at the final whistle.