A Bipin Singh goal, six minutes after the restart, proved enough to take Des Buckingham’s Mumbai City past bottom-placed East Bengal. The Islanders moved up to fourth following their Tuesday night win in Fatorda.
Eighteen games into the season and with two left to play, the Islanders are within touching distance of the top spot. However, they are also within an arm’s length of fifth-placed Kerala Blasters, the latter a point behind with a game in hand. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pitch, Mario Riviera’s men are fighting not to finish bottom of the table but are amid a poor run of form, having lost four of their last five games.
Despite their disastrous form, East Bengal gave City tough competition. The Red and Gold Brigade got off to a fast start and could have taken the lead just three minutes in when Lalrinliana Hnamte’s cross found its way to Naorem Mahesh Singh, who shot straight at the goalkeeper.
Midway through the half, Thongkhosiem Haokip, released behind the Mumbai defence, went down easily under Mourtada Fall’s challenge, but the referee waved away his appeals for a penalty. Nonetheless, the triumvirate of Haokip, Mahesh, and Hnamte troubled the champions’ defence plenty, albeit without anything tangible to show for it.
MCFC took their chances – or just the one. Brad Inman played a simple ball out to the right to Bipin Singh in the 51st minute; the attacker glided inside and found the bottom corner from outside the box with a low, powerful drive.
East Bengal retaliated and fashioned out several half-chances for themselves. The game’s next telling moment came in the 80th minute when Fran Sota’s corner caused chaos inside the Mumbai box; Franjo Prce’s shot was blocked, Raju Gaikwad’s overhead kick was saved, and Sota’s follow-up was over the bar.
Cassinho had the chance to seal the points for the Islanders at the other end three minutes later. The attacker won the ball high up the pitch and found himself 1-v-1 against the goalkeeper, only to blast his shot over. East Bengal, then, had a second penalty appeal denied for a handball against Fall, and Mumbai survived.
Buckingham’s side, with three points in the bag, moved up to fourth and must now hope that Kerala stutters in their quest to finish in the same spot.
2021/22 Indian Super League: top 6
| # | Team | Matches played | Goal difference | Points |
| 1 | Hyderabad | 17 | +21 | 32 |
| 2 | Jamshedpur | 16 | +12 | 31 |
| 3 | ATK Mohun Bagan | 16 | +9 | 30 |
| 4 | Mumbai City | 17 | +6 | 28 |
| 5 | Kerala Blasters | 16 | +6 | 27 |
| 6 | Bengaluru | 18 | +6 | 26 |
