Mumbai City FC did the double over Bengaluru FC this season as they beat the Blues 2-0 in an Indian Super League (ISL) clash on Friday at the Mumbai Football Arena.
Modou Sougou (13') and Armine Chermiti (55') were on target for the Islanders.
The home side started with two changes - Raynier Fernandes was dropped to the bench while Kevyn Serge served a suspension. Taking their places were Sourav Das and Diego Carlos. Bengaluru FC made no changes to the team that defeated Jamshedpur in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru were left red-faced just thirteen minutes into the game. Rowlin Borges' lofted through ball saw Moudou Sogou dart to the edge of the box. India's number one Gurpreet Singh Sandhu tried to get to the ball but missed his attempt to punch the ball. Sougou headed the ball past the keeper and made it 1-0 for the hosts.
Harmanjot Khabra had a great chance to level the tie but fluffed his shot. At the other end, Diego Carlos' left-footed drive was palmed away single-handedly by Sandhu.
Subashish Bose had the ball in the net around the 44th minute, but his effort, off a well-crafted cross by Carlos was ruled out on account of the offside flag. A minute later, the away side's skipper had the ball in the net, yet Chhetri was wrongly adjudged to be offside in the buildup to the goal.
Bengaluru introduced Udanta Singh into the fray at the beginning of the second half and he registered the visitors' first attempt of the second 45, a tame, looping header over Amrinder from a Bengaluru corner.
Disaster struck again in the 54th minute for the ISL champions. Rowllin was in the act again launching yet another aerial ball into the Bengaluru box.
ISL
Harmanjot Khanra erred on his defensive positioning and instead of heading towards the keeper, he steered the ball into Chermiti's path. The Tunisian forward lashed the ball past a hapless Gurpreet as Mumbai cushioned their lead.
The hosts had a wonderful chance to add a third in the 70th minute when Moudou Sougou curled a strike towards goal but Gurpreet was up to the task.
Bengaluru, by far the second-best team in the tie, saw frustrations brim over towards the end.
The win moved the Mumbaikars to within two points of Odisha, while Bengaluru remained in second place behind FC Goa.
