ISL: Mumbai City's comeback deserves praise as Bengaluru FC continue mad streak

Intangible but invaluable, ‘momentum’ has often seen underdogs script history and heavyweights reduced to dust. In that context, the ISL 2022-23 semi-final second leg featuring Bengaluru FC and Mumbai City FC was a contest between teams at different ends of the momentum spectrum.

Bengaluru, on the crest of a wave, had won their last 10 matches including a 1-0 win over the Islanders in the first leg. On the other hand, League Shield winners Mumbai City came into the contest on the back of three consecutive losses.

Mumbai won the League Shield in a record-breaking fashion, setting records for most goals and points, but in sports, once you lose momentum and enter a downward spiral, it’s a rut difficult to come out of.

Read | Clarity, meticulous planning and ambition — Buckingham on Mumbai's record-breaking season

Poor form apart, the Des Buckingham side were up against the boisterous sea of blue at the Sri Kanteerava Stadium. It appeared to be a full house with the crowd noisy and bullish. Not the best scenario when you are down on aggregate and struggling to put wins together.

ಪ್ಯಾಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ ಮಗಾ, we're going to Goa! 🔥#WeAreBFC #NothingLikeIt #BFCMCFC ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/VJFfBL3T57

— Bengaluru FC (@bengalurufc) March 12, 2023

Mumbai fight back

What made matters worse was the early drama. Bengaluru goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu made an early error and gifted away a penalty in the eighth minute. But he redeemed himself soon enough with a double save off Greg Stewart and Lallianzuala Chhangte to set the tone for the game. In the 22nd minute, Bengaluru took the lead with Javi Hernandez finishing off a Sivasakthi Narayanan cross from the left.

With the scoreline reading 0-2 on aggregate, a penalty had been missed and the loud crowd was vehemently against them. Almost everything was going against Mumbai, except for one thing — their tenacity.

Unperturbed by what had happened so far, Mumbai continued to search for goals with back-to-back attacking moves. In the 30th minute, Bipin Singh got the equaliser on a rebound after Sandhu saved a Rowllin Borges shot.

Read | How Bengaluru FC bounced back from the brink

Then there was the second goal which put Mumbai 2-1 up on the night and took the semi-final aggregate to 2-2. Defender Mehtab Singh was the scorer this time as he put a Stewart corner in the back of the net.

It was as if Mumbai got more defiant, the more the odds were stacked against them.

Another opportunity came in the 84th minute when Jorge Pereyra Diaz failed to flick in the Ahmed Jahouh cross from the right. At the end of the regulation time, Mumbai defender Rahul Bheke had a flicked header missing the target.

Goalkeeping greatness

If there weren’t more goals in the game, it wasn’t for lack of trying or clear opportunities. Both goalkeepers, Mumbai’s Phurba Lachenpa and Gurpreet, were in inspired form on the night.

In the total 120 minutes of action, including 30 minutes of extra time, Lachenpa made seven saves, while Gurpreet kept away six chances. There were minor errors but largely the goalkeepers made the strikers work harder than usual for their goals which led to the game eventually head to penalties.

With both teams successfully converting their eight spot kicks, something or rather someone had to give. Mehtab who had been brilliant the whole night became the only one to miss the spot kick in the shootout. The towering Sandhu made the right guess. Sandesh Jhingan got the job done by scoring the winning penalty.

1️⃣8️⃣ penalties. Nail-Biting stuff. In the end, @bengalurufc came out on 🔝 in the shootout! 🙌#BFCMCFC #HeroISL #HeroISLPlayoffs #HeroISLFinal #LetsFootball #BengaluruFC #MumbaiCityFC pic.twitter.com/wyJvVZvqgm

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) March 12, 2023

“We thought we had enough to come here and we did what we needed to do. They won at our place, and we’ve now come here and beat them at theirs but it wasn’t enough and it went to the penalties. It’s a bit of a heartbreaking way to exit the playoff stage,” Mumbai coach Buckingham said after the match.

“But overall when you put it over the last 10 to 12 months, very proud of what we’ve been able to do and that includes the season, but more so how we’ve gone about playing to do that and also achieving success. So we’ll be back, build upon what we have, and be ready.”

Bengaluru are through to the final and Mumbai’s record-breaking season has come to a bitter end but it’s been a season like never before, which ended with a fight to remember for long.

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