Mumbai City FC pick up crucial three points in their first match of the season against Kerala Blasters away from home…
A late strike by Amine Chermiti helped Mumbai City FC nick a win against Kerala Blasters FC on Thursday at the JLN Stadium in Kochi.
In a closely-contested fixture, reminiscent of the same match-up last season, Islanders’ new signing Chermiti came up with the match-winner in the 82nd minute.
Eelco Schattorie named an unchanged starting line-up from their 2-1 win over ATK in the opener. Mumbai City star Modou Sougou was named on the bench but found himself called into action earlier than he would have expected as he took the field just before half-time.
Kerala started the game on the front foot and enjoyed more possession in the opening moments but they could not create anything that could threaten Mumbai custodian Amrinder Singh.
Mumbai resorted to crosses to create chances, with Diego Carlos the source of most of those. The Brazilian came close when the ball was fired dangerously towards the Kerala goal but the effort was saved at the near post by Bilal Khan.
At the other end, Jairo triggered a save from Amrinder through a header from Sergio Cidoncha’s looping cross. But the India international did will to react in time and deny the Brazilian.
The opening minutes of the first half witnessed very little activity at both ends. The first clear-cut opportunity arrived in the 53rd minute when Mohamed Larbi’s low-cross found Modou Sougou at the centre of the box. For once, the Senegalese midfielder could not bury an easy chance.
Moments later, Jessel Carneiro almost pulled off a screamer after he found himself in space with a loose ball. But Amrinder got his fingertips to it kept the scoreline at 0-0.
Eventually, Kerala’s shabby defence paid the price when they failed to deal with a simple cross from Souvik Chakrabarti. Amine Chermiti got at the end of it and slotted it past Bilal at the near-post.
While it looked like Mumbai had all three points in the bag, Sahal wreaked havoc on the right flank in injury time before placing it on the platter for Bartholomew Ogbeche. The Frenchman fired from close range but Amrinder produced a stunning save to ensure his team left the pitch with a win.
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