Mumbai will take on Bengaluru in Monday’s Indian Football League 2020-21 to retain its top spot back from the Mariners. Bengaluru have the last chance to fight for the playoffs.
Match Timings: Feb 15, 7:30 PM IST
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Indian Football League 2020-21 is in its final stage and the table is showing changes every week. The last week went the same with some unexpected results. Mumbai dropped points twice from the previous three games and it allowed Mariners to take the top spot. With one extra game in hand, Islanders would look to take it back. After losing to Northeast, Mumbai edged past Kerala after going one goal down but in the last outing, they were held for a draw by Goa through an injury-time strike. Hugo Boumous troubled Goa in the first half and after missing out the early chance, the Frenchman broke the deadlock in the 20th minute to provide a 1-0 lead for Mumbai. Le Fondre doubled the lead by scoring his 9th goal.
Glan Martins opened the scoring for Goa with a stunning goal from 30 yards. Igor Angulo was denied a goal in first half but he came strong in the second half to score a goal in the 51st minute through a cross from Noguera. Boumous involved in another goal for Islanders and Borges netted the third goal in the last minute of the game. Match was in full control of Mumbai but Ishan Pandita netted an equaliser for Goa in the injury time to secure a point. The 6 goals thriller in Bambolim cost Mumbai two points and after 16 matches, Islanders were just one point ahead of Habas’ men. Mariners took the advantage on Sunday and now, the Islanders have to take three points from this match. Mumbai have defeated Blues earlier and Lobero would avoid any drama to lose the top spot. They will also play Mariners in the final league-stage game and the match result can play an important role to decide the shield winner.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru’s campaign hasn't been convincing this season. They suffered one more defeat this year and this time, Habas’ side completed a league double over them. They played a poor first half and allowed Mariners to dominate them. Blues conceded 10 fouls in the first half and the Mariners made a strong approach with easy free-kicks. Roy Krishna scored the opening goal in the 37th minute and later, Marcelinho found his name on the scoresheet with a goal just before the half-time break. Blues didn’t concede a goal in the second half but the Mariners walked away with easy three points after first-half brilliance.
It was the sixth defeat for Bengaluru and played seven draws from 17 matches. The equation for the playoff looks tough here and even the side knows they are not in the race. They have just three games in hand and will play the strongest opponents Mumbai, Goa, and Jamshedpur. The former tournament winner have just 19 points and the margin of points are so high with the fourth-placed side. If they lose the chance, it will be the first time in their club history as they will miss out the knock-out stage of any competition.
Possible Lineups & Current Form
Mumbai
Amrinder Singh, Amey Ranawade, Mourtada Fall, Hernan Santana, Mandar Rao Desai, Ahmed Jahouh, Rowllin Borges, Raynier Fernandes, Hugo Boumous, Bipin Singh, Adam Le Fondre
Current Form: D W L D W
Previous Match: 3-3 draw with Goa
Bengaluru
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; Rahul Bheke, Pratik Chaudhari, Ajith Kumar, Francisco Gonzalez, Harmanjot Khabra, Suresh Wangjam, Erik Paartalu, Kristian Opseth, Sunil Chhetri (C), Udanta Singh
Current Form: L D W D D
Previous Match: 2-0 defeat to Mohun B.
Key Players
Mumbai
Adam Le Fondre
9 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
Hugo Boumous
2 goals and 7 assists in Indian Football League 2020-21
Bengaluru
Sunil Chettri
5 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
Clieton Silva
5 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
