Odisha FC tried their best to halt the Mumbai City FC juggernaut, but they were successful to do so only in the first half as the scoresheet remained goalless when the referee blew whistle to signal the break. No one thought there's a storm brewing.
But after the breather, the Islanders returned a determined lot to blow away the hosts at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar to come out 4-2 winners in their 12th-round match of Indian Super League on Monday. Lallianzuala Chhangte scored a brace while Bipin Singh and Alberto Noguera netted one each for the visitors. Brazilian Diego Mauricio's fine double for the home side went in vain.
With this victory, Mumbai extended their winning run to a whooping eight matches but it was the end of Odisha's unbeaten run at home in their fifth game here. The win also helped Mumbai City leapfrog Hyderabad FC to the top spot while Odisha remained on sixth spot on the league table. Chhangte was adjudged the player of the match for his double strike and an assist for Noguera's goal.
Odisha started in a gritty way to keep the Mumbai City attack at bay for the entire first half but the diminutive Mizoram midfielder began the goal-fest when he opened the scoring 10 minutes into second half combining well with Jorge Diaz. Maurcio equalised six minutes later with an excellent build up and scored with a left-footed grounder but Mumbai wrested back the lead scoring through Bipin in the 68th minute.
Chhangte set up substitute Noguera five minutes from time to virtually seal the match 4-1 after completing his brace in 79th minute. However, Odisha were stubborn to succumb to their fate.
Out of nowhere, Mauricio got into the act in the 90th minute to bring his double but it was nothing more than a consolation for the Jugernauts who suffered their fifth defeat in 12 matches this season.
Unbeaten in 12 matches, Mumbai City secured their ninth win of the season to regain the top spot, two points clear of Hyderabad.
