Mumbai City 1-1 Jamshedpur: Ten Men of Steel hold the Islanders

A 10-man Jamshedpur held Mumbai City to a 1-1 draw in the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) match at the GMC Stadium on Monday.

Nerijus Valskis (9') and Bartholomew Ogbeche (15') scored in the first half before Aitor Monroy's red card in the 28th minute. Despite playing with 11 men against 10, Mumbai struggled to get behind an organized Jamshedpur defence. 

Sergio Lobera made four changes to the Mumbai City lineup which defeated Chennaiyin in their last match. Mohammed Rakip, Mehtab Singh, Cy Goddard and Bartholomew Ogbeche replaced Amey Ranawade, Hernan Santana, Raynier Fernandes and Hugo Boumous.

Owen Coyle, on the other hand, made two changes to Jamshedpur's starting eleven. Karan Amin came in place of suspended Laldinliana Renthlei and Jackichand Singh replaced Aniket Jadhav.

Mumbai City started the game well but it was Jamshedpur who drew first blood against the run of play thanks to a Nerijus Valskis strike in the ninth minute. Jackichand Singh intercepted Ogbeche’s back pass and entered the box from the right side before finding the Lithuanian forward with a square pass. The 2019-20 ISL Golden Boot winner slotted the ball home to put his team into a lead. 

Ogbeche, though, made amends for his mistake very quickly as he equalised in the 15th minute from Bipin Singh’s pass. Adam Le Fondre built the move as he found Bipin inside the box from the left flank. The Indian winger, in turn, switched the ball to Ogbeche who comfortably found the back of the net with a first-time, well-placed effort. 

Jamshedpur were dealt another blow in the 28th minute when Aitor Monroy was sent off after he picked up a second booking for a poor challenge on Rowllin Borges.

Mumbai City, as expected, dominated proceedings in the second half while Jamshedpur were happy to sit back and defend. The Islanders came close on quite a few occasions to take the lead but some resolute defending by Hartley and Eze denied them from scoring.

Ogbeche had a disappointing outing despite scoring the only goal for his team. The Nigerian had multiple opportunities to score a second goal but he failed to keep his attempts on target.

In the end, it was a morale victory for the Men of Steel who managed to take home a point after playing the majority of the match with 10 men and ending Mumbai's winning streak. The Islanders remain at the top of the table while Jamshedpur moved up to the sixth position.