Bengaluru FC played excellent counterattacking football over the 90 minutes. In the early stages of the game, Mumbai City FC appeared to be taking control of the match, but Simon Grayson’s team maintained the composure and dug deep. As they planned for the ideal opportunity to strike, they were content to let the Islanders enjoy the possession.
As they have all season, Mumbai City were once again the team that dominated possession and created more scoring chances than their opponents. Mumbai had 63% of the possession in the field and took 21 shots of which only 3 were on target, they were unable to find back of the net. While Bengaluru held the ball for only 37% of the match and took only 9 shots to find a goal. Sunil Chhetri nudged home a corner from Naorem Roshan Singh to give Bengaluru an unexpected lead and a massive boost in the first leg of the tie.
In the second minute, Greg Stewart set the pace down the right with a low cross back into the box for Bipin Singh, whose shot was blocked by Prabir Das. The defender was called into action again just ten minutes later to deny Apuia and Jorge Pereyra Diaz after a one-two. Before the hour mark, Simon Grayson substituted Chhetri with Sivasakthi Narayanan, and for the second straight game, the veteran was the difference-maker for his team. The tie was broken in the game’s last period, right after Das’ long shot was palmed over the crossbar for a corner.
The goal he scored was vintage Chhetri – floating in the box, sniffing out the smallest of gaps as Mumbai City’s zonal defence lost sight of him for the second time in as many games. Naorem Roshan, who had been impressive with his deliveries into the box all night, did not disappoint, sending in a pin-point delivery from the corner to the near post. After that, Bengaluru was the team that produced the more promising opportunities as the hosts attempted to push more men forward. Once more taking the lead, Chhetri required two saves from Lachenpa. The ball came to an unmarked Chhetri in the final minute of stoppage time after Bengaluru FC made a break to create a 3v2 position in the final third. At the near post, he attempted to score, but Lachenpa was quick to intervene, cutting Bengaluru’s lead to one before the second leg.
The Blues eventually prevailed, extending their winning streak in the ISL to ten games. With a crucial edge, they will return to the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday for the second leg. Meanwhile, the Islanders and Des Buckingham will have to return to the chalkboard after a night of
squandered chances.