(Football news) Reigning Indian Super League champions Mumbai City FC cemented their lead on top of the table after a 4-2 win against second place Jamshedpur FC at the PNJ Stadium in Fatorda on Thursday. With 12 points from five matches, Mumbai City FC went four points clear of Jamshedpur FC thanks to goals from Cassio Gabriel, Bipin Singh, Igor Angulo and substitute Ygor Catatau.
The hosts showed their superiority right from the onset as Gabriel found the back of the net just three minutes after kick off. The Brazilian curled home from the edge of the box after receiving the ball from Ahmed Jahouh's short corner. Jamshedpur FC had an immediate reaction and almost found an equalizer when Greg Stewart outwitted Rahul Bheke but his attempt was saved by Mumbai City FC’s keeper Mohammad Nawaz.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 17th minute when some free flowing football found Gabriel in space and the 29 year old entered into the box after beating Eli Sabia and passed it to an unmarked Bipin who tapped it into the net. The defending champions seemed intent to prove that their defeat against Hyderabad FC was a one off with their rampant form as they made it 3-0 with Gabriel in the mix of it again as the Brazilian provided a perfectly weighted pass to Igor Angulo and the 37 year old went past Eli Sabia with his first touch and unleashed a powerful left footed strike that went past Jamshedpur FC’s goalkeeper T.P Rehenesh.
With the visitors facing an uphill task in the second half, Owen Coyle’s players reacted appropriately by scoring twice in the space of seven minutes. Just three minutes into the second half, Greg Stewart found Komal Thatal in space and the 21 year old cut to his right, unleashing a powerful shot that resulted in a deflection and went past Mumbai City FC’s goalkeeper Mohammad Nawaz.
Seven minutes later, Eli Sabia made amends for his poor first half performance when he capitalized on a defensive error by Bheke to nod home into an empty net and give Jamshedpur FC a fighting chance of salvaging at least a point from the fixture. However, Ygor Catatau was introduced in the match for Igor Angulo in the 68th minute and the Brazilian made an instant impact by smashing home Mumbai City FC’s fourth goal of the match just two minutes later to secure all three points for the reigning champions. With this result, Jamshedpur FC succumbed to their first loss of the season and are now only one point ahead of Hyderabad and Chennaiyin FC on the Indian Super League table.
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