City suffered their third loss in five games at the hands of Bengaluru FC on January 10 night in Fatorda. Danish Farooq Bhat scored early for the Blues, and Prince Ibara added a brace before half-time to complete an easy win.
The Islanders have failed to win any of their previous five games and risk falling out of the top four in the 2021/22 Indian Super League table. Their latest loss, a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of a resurgent Bengaluru.
Mumbai City started the game the stronger of the two sides, with Cassinho and Bipin Singh testing Gurpreet Singh Sandhu during the early phases of play. But, it was Bengaluru who took the lead in the eighth minute through midfielder Danish Farooq Bhat, as he thumped in a loose ball past Phurba Lachenpa in the Mumbai goal from outside the box.
Fifteen minutes later, Prince Ibara doubled Bengaluru’s lead with a towering header inside the six-yard area. The forward was left with little to do, thanks to Roshan Singh’s pinpoint cross from the right flank.
Bengaluru dominated proceedings from then on; Lachenpa saved Ibara and Bruno Ramires’ efforts while Mohamad Rakip blocked Cleiton Silva’s goal-bound effort on the line. The Blues’ efforts were rewarded when Ibara scored his second – another close-range header – in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time.
Lalengmawia Ralte came closest to pulling a goal back for Mumbai City in the 66th minute as the youngster struck a long-range volley against the post. With no one there to tap in the rebound, Bengaluru escaped with their clean sheet intact. Meanwhile, Lachenpa, too, made a good stop from Danish late on, denying the midfielder his brace, as he got down quickly to parry a fierce shot away to safety.
No goals from Mumbai City, then, and no wins in five either. The Islanders are already second and are at the risk of falling as low as fifth in the table if the teams below them win their games in hand.
