The Indian Super League held at Tilak Maidan Stadium was between SC East Bengal and Mumbai City FC.
The match was the manifestation of enough grid especially, SC East Bengal’s side. Backed by the interim coach Renedy Singh, the team’s defence was laudable and worthy of praise.
In the first half, no major goal score came from both teams. SC East Bengal’s defence line was strong leaving, little space for their rival team Mumbai City FC.
Meanwhile, SC East Bengal is winless with their position at the bottom of the table securing, six points from ten matches. Mumbai City FC occupied the top spot with seventeen points but has remained winless.
The encounter was gripping as Arindam Bhattacharya of SC East Bengal could not be beaten down by Mumbai City FC’s striker Igor Angulo.
On many occasions, the attacks from the side of Mumbai City FC went flat in the face of the SC East Bengal’s defender Adil Khan. Despite their failure to score points, SC East Bengal proved the team power with their line of defence.
Some of the Highlights: SC East Bengal vs Mumbai City FC
SC East Bengal’s winger Bikash Jairu tried to prevent a cross from midfielder Raynier Fernandes by foot handling the ball. It resulted in denial of a significant penalty call in the 23rd minute.
Renedy Singh, an interim coach of SC East Bengal, boasted about his team’s Indian players and had only one foreigner against Mumbai City FC’s four top foreign players. He was happy with the performance of his team’s Indian players.
Des Buckingham, Mumbai City FC’s head coach, shared his view on his team’s good performance. However, he showed his frustration saying, “We created many chances, but it is frustrating when they fail to give crystal-clear decisions.”
SC East Bengal’s Sourav Das wins the title of Hero of the Match.
.@sc_eastbengal and @MumbaiCityFC share a point after a tight game! ?
Watch the recap of #SCEBMCFC ? #HeroISL #LetsFootball #ISLRecap pic.twitter.com/q39D6wd6G4
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) January 7, 2022
SC East Bengal’s Defence Power vs Mumbai City FC’s quality team
The social media comments show favour to SC East Bengal’s defence power as against the supposed quality team of Mumbai City FC. The pressure was evident from both the teams throughout the match.
As SC Bengal toiled to keep their rival team, in check, on the other hand, Mumbai City FC struggled to score a goal despite their quality team. Nevertheless, SC East Bengal has not been able to leave a mark. They sit at the bottom of the point table with five points from nine games.
In the final stages of the match, there came more determination from the side of the SC East Bengal leaving, Mumbai City FC more frustrated as they couldn’t score a meaningful goal. Even after the Islanders effort to curb the opposing team’s defence, they had to at last settle for a goalless draw.
One could take from this intense match was that the competition was head-to-head from both sides. SC East Bengal may have lacked in their attacks but, the defence power was solid.
As for Mumbai City FC, their team’s performance was more robust. Therefore, the end, which resulted in a goalless draw, clearly showed the strengths and weaknesses of the parties involved in the league.
The intensity in the game seemed to be levelling up by the defence power of SC East Bengal that may not have managed to win the top spot but, their strength was a close call against the quality team of Mumbai City FC.
Neither party could score a goal. It did throw SC East Bengal at the bottom of the score as compared to the top position of Mumbai City FC, but the performance from both the teams was commendable.
