Mumbai City FC down Mohun Bagan, lift ISL title

To the handful that have silenced a soldout Salt Lake stadium, add Mumbai City FC. Bruno Coutinho and Salgaocar did it in 1997. Gokulam Kerala’s Rishad and Emil Benny did that in 2021-22 to win the I-League. On Saturday night, goals from Jorge Pereyra Diaz (53), Bipin Singh (81) and Jakub Voltus (90+6) erased Jason Cummings’ 44th minute strike to give Mumbai City FC the Indian Super League (ISL) trophy in season 10, their second, beating Mohun Bagan Super Giant.

As Mumbai City FC, who remain the only team to have done the ISL double, bounced and hugged on the pitch, the stadium emptied in a trice.

Mumbai City FC came so hard at Mohun Bagan that the home team walked on egg shells through the final. Coach Petr Kratky’s team pressed in a swarm pinning Bagan in their half. Bagan’s Deepak Tangri made a number of crucial blocks like he had against Australia in the Asian Cup, the back line stayed resolute for most of the game, but there was no disputing who were bossing the final.

League shield winners Mohun Bagan just couldn’t get going in the first half as Lallianzula Chhangte, in red hot form, grazed the horizontal with a free-kick and shot into the upright. Bagan were also lucky that the ball touching Hector Yuste’s arm in the 28th minute was not deemed a penalty by referee Venkatesh R.

Add a ball from Chhangte rolling across the goal with no one from Mumbai City fetching up. City had more possession, more corner-kicks and free-kicks and Tiri, who had lost the ISL final in 2020-21, got tangled in the goal when Chhangte fired in the 30th minute. But it was Bagan who were leading at half-time.

For the second time in as many games, it was from a goalkeeper’s error. Subhasish Bose found Liston Colaco, who laid it for Dimitri Petratos and like against Odisha FC, the Australian fired a long-ranger. Like Amrinder Singh, Phurba Lachenpa, the weakest link in the Mumbai team on Saturday but who got the golden glove for a good season, palmed it in front. Cummings said thank you with a tap-in.

Time was when defending 1-0 leads used to be Bagan coach Antonio Habas’ thing. But Mumbai City FC were too good. Alberto Noguera’s raking long ball arrowed into Pereyra Diaz’s path and the Argentine took it away from Manvir Singh. Vishal Kaith got big but the Argentine managed to slot the ball past the Bagan goalie.

Singh, who had sucker-punched ATK Mohun Bagan in the 2020-21 final, scored with his second touch as Bagan failed to get the ball out. As the home team pushed up, they could have scored more. Eventually, Vojtus did, capping off a night in which they were decidedly superior.