Chennaiyin FC vs Mumbai City FC: Who won yesterday's match?

Chennaiyin FC eked out a point from their match against league leaders Mumbai City FC after a 1-1 result in the 71st match of the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) at the GMC Bambolim Stadium in Goa. Bartholomew Ogbeche’s headed goal early in the game put Mumbai City FC ahead, but a bit of showboating from them later resulted in the loss of two points.

Chennaiyin FC had an early shot on target as Lallianzuala Chhangte tested Amrinder Singh from outside the box. The strike was pretty good especially when one considers that Chhangte struck it with his wrong foot. Soon, Esmael Goncalves got a decent chance but he could only scuff hit shot at Amrinder after entering the box.

At the other end, Vignesh Dakshinamurthy sent in a nice low cross but Raynier Fernandes couldn’t direct his shot properly. Chennaiyin FC got a corner-kick but Eli Sabia headed it over the goal. Mumbai City FC grew into the game with each passing second. Eventually, the Islanders went ahead as Bartholomew Ogbeche headed home from a superb Bipin Singh cross from the left flank.

Just two minutes later, Chennaiyin FC got a chance to counter-attack but Jakub Sylvestr ran into a dead end when there were opportunities to pass to both flanks. Even when the Marina Machans stitched a good move or two, the duo of Mourtada Fall and Hernan Santana kept the slate clean for Mumbai City FC.

Mumbai City FC got an early free-kick in the second-half but Ahmed Jahouh’s delivery went straight to Vishal Kaith. A few minutes later, Jerry Lalrinzuala blazed the ball over the target after Lallianzuala Chhangte’s cross was cleared. Chhangte then swung in a decent corner-kick but Enes Sipovic failed to find the target.

Chennaiyin FC looked out of ideas and it was reflected by Edwin Sydney Vanspaul’s free-kick which sailed into the stands. At the other end, Amey Ranawade almost curled the ball inside the post after a scrappy phase of play. In the 70th minute, Amrinder fumbled after Reagan Singh delivered a free-kick to the far post even though the resultant corner-kick didn’t really trouble Mumbai City FC.

Five minutes later, the table-toppers went onto concede a silly penalty after Ahmed Jahouh tried to dribble past Jakub Sylvestr instead of taking a direct goal-kick. Chennaiyin FC’s top-scorer Esmael Goncalves slotted in the penalty with utmost confidence to come up with the equalizer.

Chennaiyin FC could have gone all out for the winner but Jakub Sylvestr was taken off for Mumbai City FC. The opposition showed their intent clearly with as many as four substitutions in quick succession, but a goal-scoring opportunity couldn’t come their way. Mehtab Singh got a half-chance from a free-kick in stoppage time but he failed to control it. In the end, the match ended as an entertaining stalemate.

ISL 2020-21, CFC vs MCFC: Who was the Hero of the Match?

Amey Ranawade has been one of the big positives for Mumbai City FC. Courtesy: ISL

Mumbai City FC right-back Amey Ranawade was named as the ‘Hero of the Match’ for his excellent performance on the night. Amey was tasked with keeping the pacy Lallianzuala Chhangte quiet and he did a pretty good job at that.

The 22-year-old was also often seen in advanced positions as he bombed up and down the flank. Apart from displaying a passing accuracy of 87.5%, the Mumbaikar also came up with four tackles, one interception and one tackle.