New Delhi: Chirag United will consider themselves unlucky not to have come out of the ninth round I-League encounter against Mumbai FC with full points after missing a host of chances in the entertaining 1-1 draw.
The Kolkata side has nine points from as many games while Mumbai FC have 13. The game between the newcomers started with Mumbai FC looking to attack. The first attempt was when Anees Kutty from the right cut inside and launched a powerful left footer which sailed over the bar.
Five minutes later, Abel Hammond’s cross from the right was headed by Gauranga Dutta straight to Subash Chakraborty who made a mockery of his chance. Mumbai FC left far too much space on the right which allowed Snehashish Chakraborty to run freely down the flank.
Chirag United took a shock lead through Sankar Oraon in the 12th minute who scored his second in the league. Dhanarajan’s fierce right footer was punched by Mumbai FC custodian Kalyan Chaubey but it fell for Sankar who tapped it in from close range.
Four minutes later, Anees Kutty made a fine run down the right and pulled back the ball but was cleared in time by Denson.
The visitor’s best chance came in the 17th minute off a Subhash Chakraborty flag-kick which was headed for Abel Hammond by skipper Abhishek Yadav. The Ghanaian’s header was cleared off the goalline by defender Louis Ebami.
Chirag striker Muritala Ali blasted from the right but the ball lacked direction. Chirag had another opportunity as Kalyan Chaubey came off his line to thwart Gauranga Dutta from having a go at the goal. The ball was collected by goalscorer Sankar Oraon who instead of attempting to slot the ball into the empty net decided to pass it to his strike partner.
Mumbai FC midfield was second to Chirag for most of the play in the first session. Snehashish Chakraborty was the most threatening Chirag player as Mumbai FC’s left back Sanjay Parte was found wanting on a number of occasions. Abel Hammond got himself injured towards the end and was stretched off.
At the start of the second half, Mumbai FC made a double change by bringing in Peter Siddiqui for Anthony Fernandes while Felix Aboagye replaced Hammond. There was shuffling in the defence as Peter played as a stopper back while Sanjay Parte changed his flanks. Anas filled the right back slot. The changes did make some impact as the Yellow and Blue boys showed a little more desire to equalise. This left chinks at the back and Kalyan Chaubey almost got himself into trouble as he didn’t clear the ball first time and gave away a throw-in to the opposition.
Then came the frenzied three minutes which saw end to end action. Selwyn Fernandes’ back pass was almost latched on by Sankar Oraon but Kalyan Chaubey pushed him inside the area. Chirag asked for a spot-kick but the referee was unmoved.
The very next minute saw Snehashish burst through the left to send a cross which was squandered by Sankar to hit it over the bar from five yards.
Mumbai FC restored parity out of nowhere as Riston Rodrigues 25 yarder took a slight deflection off Louis Ebami to find the back of the net while goalkeeper Gopal Das was left stranded.
Muritala Ali created a brilliant chance for young Sankar but the latter delayed his shot and allowed Selwyn to clear the danger. The match looked like getting out of hand as the referee showed three yellow cards in as many minutes.
Felix Aboagye turned and sent a ball across the face of the goal but none of the Mumbai FC players were in there.
Sanjay Parte’s slack defending was on display when he allowed Gauranga Dutta to win the ball and send it to Muritala who foxed Peter Siddiqui to enforce a super save from Kalyan Chaubey in the 83rd minute.
Chirag United’s Dhanarajan had to be taken off due to an injury and veteran Dulal Biswas came on for the final stages.
A Chirag United throw-in was well collected by Muritala Ali inside the box and laid it for Sankar Oraon to shoot but was blocked by Peter Siddiqui to concede a corner.
The resulting corner-kick was flicked by Sankar Oraon at the near post for Daniel to take it on volley and it just went over the bar.
Substitute Nishant Mehra struck a firm right footer from 25 yards but was well saved by Gopal Das.
Chirag United paid the price for messing up a number of chances that came their way and thus dropped two crucial points at home. Mumbai FC would consider themselves lucky to have come out with a point after a shoddy performance.
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