I-League: Bengaluru FC end Mumbai jinx

Bengaluru FC’s Kim Song-Yong (left) and Min-chol Son of Mumbai vie for the ball in their I-League match in Bengaluru on Saturday.

‘Mumbai se aya mera dost’ blared loud and clear as Bengaluru FC ended their jinx against Mumbai FC with a narrow 1-0 win in their I-League clash at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Saturday. Daniel Lalhumpuia came off the bench to score the lone goal of the tie.

The Bollywood chart buster was the final nail in the coffin for the travelling side after 90 minutes of hostile chants from the crowd against coach Khalid Jamil.

With the win, coupled with leaders Mohun Bagan’s loss to East Bengal, the Men of Steel are level on points (25) at the top of the table, with only the head-to-head record keeping them off the pinnacle.

Ashley Westwood brought on the fit-again Eugeneson Lyngdoh back into the line-up but missed the services of Sunil Chhetri due to injury.’

Lyngdoh’s trickery and Thoi Singh’s industry provided the home side with enough impetus but they were ultimately let down by some poor judgement and passes in the final third, especially from Doungel during the first half.

The young attacker grew in influence in the second half before being replaced by Udanta Singh after the hour mark.

For the most part, the visitors were kept at bay and only had a handful of wayward long rangers to their credit.

The goal finally came in the 81st minute when goalkeeper Pawan Kumar made a meal of substitute Udanta’s scooped through ball by charging out and missing it completely allowing Vineeth to pullback from the byline for Lalhumpuia, on the field for all of five minutes, to slot into an empty net for his first goal for the club.

EB edge past Bagan PTI adds, South Korean Do Dong-hyun struck twice, including from a hotly-contested penalty, as East Bengal beat arch-rivals and defending champions Mohun Bagan 2-1 in a high voltage and drama-filled derby match between the two Kolkata giants in Siliguri.

First half substitute Dong-hyun scored from the spot in the 40th minute and then added another in the 75th for ‘home side’ East Bengal, while Mohun Bagan captain Katsumi Yusa pulled one back in the 83rd minute.

The match could have ended 2-2 but Mohun Bagan and India striker Jeje Lalpekhlua wasted a penalty in injury time.

The win took East Bengal to second with 23 points from 12 matches.