Mumbai City FC climbed back into the top four of the Indian Super League table beating Odisha FC 4-1. Igor Angulo and Bipin Singh scored a brace each, while Jonathas de Jesus pulled a late goal back in an entertaining Sunday night fixture at the Fatorda.
The race for the top four in the Indian Super League is hotting up. Hopefuls Odisha FC and Mumbai City FC faced each other, knowing a win would enhance their respective chances of qualifying for the finals. Mumbai came out on top, thanks to a brace each from Igor Angulo and Bipin Singh, while Odisha slipped further away from the threshold.
A closely contested opening period gave way to a more open subsequent one. The game’s best opportunity up until that point came in the 33rd minute, when Odisha’s Jerry Mawihmingthanga tried to curl the ball past Mohammad Nawaz, only to be denied by a fingertip save from the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper kept his side from going behind and, minutes later, Angulo flicked a Rahul Bheke cross from deep past Arshdeep Singh to put them in front.
Mumbai doubled their lead two minutes after the restart. Ahmed Jahouh won the ball high up the pitch and released Bipin beyond the Odisha backline. The attacker opened his body up, making it look like he was going to curl the ball into the far corner but, instead, smashed it in at the near post.
Bipin and Angulo combined for the third goal. The former played in the latter beyond the last line of opposition defence, and he cut inside to poke the ball into the far corner. Seventy minutes, the clock had shown, when Angulo scored his second, and, three minutes later, Bipin completed his brace by tapping a Cassinho cross home from the centre of the box.
Jonathas pulled a goal back for Odisha in the 90th minute. The Brazilian shaped up to shoot from yards out and casually struck an unstoppable shot into the far corner. It was the goal of the night, but it came far too late as Odisha succumbed to yet another defeat.
