NorthEast does a double against Mumbai
NorthEast United FC got the better of Mumbai City FC yet again, doing a double over the Islanders with a 2-1 win in the Indian Super League at the GMC Stadium here on Saturday. The win also ended MCFC’s chances of creating history with a record 13th-straight unbeaten game.
Interestingly, NorthEast is the only side which has managed to win against the might of the table-topper. Interim coach Khalid Jamil also maintained his perfect run since taking charge of NorthEast and has recorded his third straight win, taking his side back into the top four with 21 points.
Deshorn Brown’s first-half double was enough to see Mumbai City off, despite Adam Le Fondre pulling back a late goal. There were a couple of changes for both teams. Mandar Rao Dessai returned to the starting eleven for MCFC while Jackichand Singh was handed his first start.
For NorthEast, Benjamin Lambot made a comeback to the playing XI after Dylan Fox was ruled out with injury while Provat Lakra came in for the suspended Gurjinder Kumar.
NEUFC got off to the best possible start, scoring two goals in the opening 10 minutes. Brown powered NorthEast ahead in the sixth minute. Luis Machado had a shot at goal that was parried by Amrinder Singh, but the danger wasn’t cleared as Nim Dorjee sent in a cross into the box. Brown, timed his run and smashed the ball, into the back of the net.
The Highlanders punished Mumbai for sloppy defending and scored its second. Federico Gallego whipped in a corner in the box, which the Mumbai City defence failed to clear as Hernan Santana’s weak header found Machado. The Portuguese forward pushed the ball to Brown and the Jamaican netted his second goal.
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