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With the despair of the League Shield defeat still fresh in their taste buds, Mumbai City FC conjured a clinical performance to humble Mohun Bagan Super Giant and claim the ISL 2023-24 Cup at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday, May 4. While a school-boy error from Phurba Lachenpa allowed the Mariners to take the lead, the Islanders roared back in the second half to secure a 3-1 victory.
For the entirety of the night, the visitors looked on song, as they overwhelmed the Green and Maroon Brigade until the final whistle. Strikes from Jorge Peryera Diaz, Bipin Singh, and Jokub Vojtus steered the Islanders victory way.
Building up to the clash, Yoell van Nieff was suspended for the all-important clash and Alberto Noguera replaced him in the Islanders' starting lineup. Mehtab Singh was pushed to the left-back role in the absence of Akash Mishra who picked up a knock in a prior clash. Meanwhile, for the Mariners, with Armando Sadiku suspended, the forward pairing choice of Dimitri Petratos and Jason Cummings was straightforward.
Before the fixture, MCFC head coach Petr Kratky had on multiple occasions underlined their need to improve on their approach in comparison to the Shield decider against the Kolkata Giants. The Blues were plenty more robust going into their challenges and the referee welcomed the adrenaline-fueled challenges.
Mumbai were expansive and adamant in attack and forced the hosts into a cacoon in the initial exchanges. A hint of controversy enveloped the pitch when a cross when Jorge Pereyra Diaz struck the arm of Hector Yuste inside the MBSG box but the referee opined against a penalty. Kratky was seen ranging on the sidelines and justifiably.
On the attacking front, Vikram Pratap Singh and Lallianzuala Chhangte pioneered the charge down the wings, and the latter almost found a gateway on goal when Jorge Pereyra Diaz rolled an inch-perfect through ball in the Mizo winger's path. But Chhangte miscued his effort from an acute angle despite being inside the penalty area.
Minutes later, another warning sign went off for Mohun Bagan when a curling freekick from Chhangte kissed the crossbar and an outstretched Vishal Kaith could only breathe a sigh of relief. Raging attacks from Mumbai continued but the three sticks transpired to be Mohun Bagan's saviour. A square pass from Vikram found Chhangte inside the opposition box with his back to the goal in the 39th minute. The 26-year-old created some wiggle room with a shiny but his effort clipped the heels of Subhasish Bose and clattered into the post.
It seemingly sucked the vigor out of the Islanders as their opposition grew into the clash almost immediately. Liston Colaco had Mohun Bagan's first real chance in the 42nd minute. Football often disobeys the realms of logic - in a snap, Mumbai who looked ominous to score were left trembling by the aggression from the MBSG players on the pitch, and the roaring MBSG supporters in the stands.
Dimitri Petratos was fed the ball almost 30 yards away from the goal but with the urge to enter the Mohun Bagan folklore overpowering his ambitions, the Australian fired a vicious effort. For Phurba Lachenpa, it was seemingly a straightforward punch but the shot-stopper made a complete mess of it as he pushed it into the path of Cummings.
The marquee Australian forward, with ice flowing through his veins, dinked the ball over helpless Lachenpa and sent the Salt Lake Stadium into complete bedlam. The threat was looming all along as the Green and Maroon Brigade's opening goal in the second leg against Odisha was a spitting image.
Kratky feared his men crumbling under the overbearing pressure, and spurred his men on from the sidelines But to no avail as the Mariners walked back into the dressing with their advantage intact at the break.
Adamant Mumbai City humble Mohun Bagan SG in the second half
How does one recover from the despair of seeing all their prodigious effort undone in a snap? Well, none would know better than the Islanders who had remarkably recovered from the setback of losing out on the League Shield on the final matchday. Recharged after the break, they put all their suppressed angst to great use and negated the Mariners' lead in the 53rd minute.
A hopeful ball more than anything from Tiri was aimed at Jorge Diaz, who was gunning at the opposition backline. The Argentinian outpaced his marker Anwar Ali but Manvir Singh, who had raced back to cover, was breathing down Diaz's neck. But the striker outmuscled the opposition defender before toe-poking the ball towards the open net. A goal-line lunge from Yuste wasn't enough to intervene as the leather orb rolled into the net. The cheers of a handful of traveling Mumbai fans cut through the deafening silence in the stadium.
Mohun Bagan had clearly hoped their lone goal would suffice on the night and were left a little shell-shocked when it didn't. There was an air of clumsiness that became evident within the MB backline and chances cropped up for the visitors. But their momentum was momentarily halted with Noguera going down with a niggle. Bipin Singh was brought on for the Spanish midfielder, while Jakub Vojtus replaced Jorge Pereyra Diaz who had run himself rugged. Vinit Rai was also thrown into the mix in place of Jayesh Rane.
Quite like Mohun Bagan had snatched away the League Shield from Mumbai's clutches, the Islanders returned the favor with diligence through the boots of Bipin in the 81st minute. Chhangte's initial effort from the edge of the box was blocked by a defensive body, however, the rebound fell at Jakub's feet and the Slovakian striker squared it for Bipin, who miscued his first effort but tucked it in the second attempt.
Mohun Bagan had to throw in the kitchen sink and left plenty of openings in the backline. Vikram had an opportunity to double the lead in the fifth minute of extra time, but ultimately Jakub sent the Mohun Bagan hopefuls towards the exit door as he made the scoreline 3-1 in the 97th minute. As the final whistle went off, the Mumbai dugout raced to the stands as they had buried the ghosts of the past and clinched their second ISL Cup.
Meanwhile, Petr Kratky dropped down on the sidelines and smiled as he welcomed a new era for Mumbai City within six months of taking charge.
