ISL: Mumbai City registers League record 8th win in a row

MUMBAI: Mumbai City FC scaled new heights in an already dominant Indian Super League 2022-23 season, with a commanding 4-0 win against Kerala Blasters FC at the Mumbai Football Arena here on Sunday.

The victory brought an end to Kerala’s eight-match unbeaten run and vaulted Mumbai City back to the top of the ISL table as it notched up a League record eighth win in succession. For the first time in its nineyear history, MCFC scored four goals in the first half, all of them coming within the first 22 minutes of the match.

In the fourth minute, Bipin Singh received a long ball and played a one-two with Greg Stewart to break into the box. The winger’s shot was saved by KBFC goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill, but the deflection fell in the path of Jorge Pereyra Diaz, who swept the ball home for the first of his two goals.

Just as Blasters seemed to have lifted itself, Stewart was on hand to deflate it in the 10th minute. Lallianzuala Chhangte received a long diagonal on the right wing, before floating the ball into the box for Stewart, who nodded it home.

Before Kerala could regroup, another long ball split its defence. Mehtab Singh found Diaz’s run in the channels, and the striker held the ball up in the box before cutting it back for Bipin on the left. The winger took his time and curled the ball into the top right corner. Diaz then put the fixture to bed in the 22nd minute, running onto a through ball from Ahmed Jahouh and finding the net via a deflection off Victor Mongil.

Table-topper Mumbai City moved to 33 points from 13 matches while Kerala remains third with 25 points off 13 games.

RESULT: Mumbai City FC 4 (JP Diaz 4 & 22, G Stewart 10, Bipin 16) bt Kerala Blasters FC.