MARGAO: Defending champions Mumbai City FC finally ended their seven-game winless run in the Indian Super League (ISL) with a 1-0 victory over Chennaiyin FC here on Sunday.
The match was decided by a late goal from Vikram Partap Singh (85th minute) whose strike was enough to elevate Mumbai to fifth place, level on points with fourth-placed Jamshedpur FC.
Des Buckingham’s men were dominant in possession during the first few minutes and created more scoring chances than their opponents.
Igor Angulo tested the goalkeeper with a meek left-footed shot in the 18th minute which was saved easily. The Marina Machans soaked more pressure as the first half progressed, trying to catch the opposition on the counter.
Nerijus Valskis came close to breaking the deadlock before the break but he was caught offside inside the box. Angulo then saw his header go narrowly wide but he too was adjudged to be in an offside position. There was nothing to separate the teams at the half time break as none could score a goal.
The second half saw more pressure from Mumbai as Apuia had his shot go past the right side of the goal within five minutes of the restart. At the hour mark, Lallianzuala Chhangte placed the ball on a platter for Angulo from the right who could not find the connection to score the elusive goal.
The game headed into the last ten minutes without a goal on the board. However, the breakthrough finally came from Vikram Pratap Singh.
The winger was fed by Bradden Inman on the far post, found himself unmarked and placed the ball in the back of the net from close-range.
Lukasz Gikiewicz had a late chance to score the equaliser but managed to send his shot above the crossbar. The five minutes for stoppages were not enough for Chennaiyin to find an equaliser as the Islanders took all three points.