Mumbai FC play 1-1 draw against Rangdajied United

Pune: Ashutosh Mehta chanced on a brilliant cross from left to accentuate Mumbai’s FC second-half exuberance as the home team drew 1-1 against Rangdajied United FC after being down in the first half, in the Round 11 match of the Airtel I-League here on Wednesday.

An edgy Khalid Jamil was facing a prospect of losing at home after Manandeep Singh had put the visitors 1-0 ahead in the 32nd minute. But after the break Mumbai FC looked to be a changed side as they went on the offensive creating several chances.

After Ashutosh Mehta put Mumbai on level, Jamil let his players on the loose as they created chances galore, but were unlucky to find the nettings.

The draw meant there was slight change in the team position on the I-League table as Mumbai remained on No 11 with 8 points, while Rangdajied climbed up one spot to No 12 with 5 points.

Mumbai began ominously when Rohit Mirza made a horrible tackle and was shown yellow card in the fourth minute of the game. Three minutes later Rangdajied’s David Nagaithe sent a powerful cross hurtling towards Mumbai custodian Nidhin Lal.

The goalkeeper stumbled while clearing the ball and was lucky that none of the opposition players could put that ball into the goal. Rangdajied morale was up as their goal was manned by Portugal-bound Subrata Paul.

Subrata palmed away a Nicholas Rodrigues shot that seemed to be heading in. On the rebound Sandjar Ahmadi collected the ball but could only gain a corner. Rodrigues set up Ahmadi from the right through corner kick, but the Afghani’s 30 yarder low shot was easily deflected away.

After a few attempts by Hashmatullah Barikazi went in vain, Rangdajied notched up a telling blow through Manandeep Singh. Nagithe had stolen the ball on the right before firing in a diagonal shot towards Nidhin Lal.

On the rebound off the far post, Manandeep coolly tapped the ball into the net to underline a clear defensive lapse by Mumbai defenders.

It wa Ahmadi who was most active for Mumbai. In the 44th minute he set up Rodrigues in the box but their move fizzled out. In the one minute of added time, Mumbai earned a freekick that Rodrigues shot a blinder but Subrata was in place to avoid any mishaps.

On changing the ends, Rangdajied tried to push themselves up into the Mumbai forte. In the 56th minute Rangdajied had another crack at the goal, but Nidhin Lal saved the day for Mumbai.

In the 62nd minute Barikazi sent a powerful shot into the box from left corner to which Ahmadi dived too low and missed the ball completely. But an onrushing Ashutosh Mehta saw to it that Subrata was finally beaten.

That goal gave a new life to Mumbai FC’s morale as they went on to create one chance after another, specially Ahmadi who actually deserved to get a mention.

In the injury time, Nidhin made yet another mistake when he misjudged the bounce of the ball and allowed it to go over his head. A defender was well within range to tide over that lapse and clear from a certain danger.