Jerry Mawihmingthanga was the star of the show as Odisha beat leaders Mumbai City FC 4-2 in their Monday night clash at the Tilak Maidan. The youngster scored twice and set up another as the Juggernauts clawed back from a goal down.
Odisha beat incumbent champions and league leaders Mumbai City to claim their first win in five. 24-year-old Jerry Mawihmingthanga scored twice and set Jonathas up for another, as the Juggernauts came from a goal down to beat their opponents.
Aridai Cabrera gave Odisha the lead in the fourth minute. The Spaniard turned Mumbai’s Mourtada Fall inside-out with clever feints and dummies and had his subsequent shot spilled over the line by custodian Mohammad Nawaz. Mumbai retaliated not long after, and Ahmed Jahouh brought the scores level with a sensational effort from outside the box.
Jahouh’s goal sparked a period of Mumbai dominance, during which Kamaljit Singh was tested repeatedly by the Islanders. Igor Angulo broke the Odisha goalkeeper’s resolve in the 38th minute by heading in Mumbai’s second off a Jahouh set-piece delivery. The champions took the lead into the break with them, setting Odisha on the path to a fifth winless game.
However, young Jerry had different ideas. The attacker ghosted in at the back post to head a Nishu Kumar cross for the equalizer in the 70th minute. Seven minutes later, he received a pass into his path by Jonathas – who had held the ball well on the edge of the box – and lashed a first-time shot into the far top corner from the right side of the box. Just like that, Odisha’s deficit had turned into a lead.
Jonathas put the game beyond any doubt in the 89th minute; the attacker was left with a tap-in from close range after some good work by Jerry on the right flank, where he had freed himself from a cul-de-sac to deliver a pin-point cross.
The Juggernauts held onto their lead – and the maximum points – to win for the first time in five games. Meanwhile, Mumbai, worryingly, are winless in three – having lost two of those – and are now just a point above second-placed Hyderabad with an extra game played.
