Manjeri, Apr 11: Mumbai City FC came back from one-goal down to beat Churchill Brothers of Goa 2-1 in the first Group D league game of the Super Cup football tournament here on Tuesday.
Ansumana Kromah put Churchill in front in the ninth minute to rattle the Mumbai side which had won the ISL Shield. Mehtab Singh restored parity in the 27th minute, heading in a Rowlin Borges’ free-kick.
Mumbai City, which will play in this season’s AFC Champions League, had to wait till the second half stoppage time to settle the issue. Lallianzuala Chhangte struck from the penalty spot in the second minute of the added time (90+2) to give Mumbai all the three points.
Churchill took Mumbai by surprise early in the game. The I-League side’s striker Ansumana Kromah took the ball away from Mumbai goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa in the ninth minute and put it into the empty net.
Des Buckingham’s Mumbai side rallied and produced wave after wave of attacks to eventually find an equaliser in the 27th minute. The breakthrough came via the head of defender Mehtab Singh who nodded home from Rowllin Borges’ perfect cross as Mumbai City drew level.
Soon, Mumbai City were the ones driving the game, creating a flurry of chances. The best of them fell to Vikram Partap Singh, who latched on to a cross after some brilliant individual play by Lallianzuala Chhangte on the right flank. The young striker failed to control the ball neatly, and missed a good opportunity to give his team the lead.
Mumbai City came close again soon after, when Vignesh Dakshinamoorthy’s lobbed pass was met by a rising Rahul Bheke, who captained the side, but his header was denied by the woodwork.
It wasn’t all one way traffic though. Churchill were patient to play on the counter.
Churchill’s first chance of second half fell to Martin Chaves but the Uruguayan shot into the hands of Lachenpa.
Soon after, Mumbai City almost took the lead. Substitute Gurkirat Singh headed towards goal from a Borges cross, only for Nora Fernandes to parry the ball away.
Ultimately, Mumbai City’s resilience and quality shone through. Late in injury time, Vikram Partap Singh was brought down inside the box by a reckless tackle, Joseph Clemente being the culprit. Chhangte stepped up to take the resultant penalty and slotted it home.
Mumbai City will next face fellow ISL side Chennaiyin FC on April 19 while Churchill Brothers go up against NorthEast United in Manjeri. (PTI)
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