Mumbai City FC players celebrate after receiving the ISL League Winner’s Shield. Image: Twitter/@IndSuperLeague
Mumbai City FC were awarded the ISL League Winners’ Shield 2022-23 on Sunday, 19 February, at the Mumbai Football Arena. Mumbai had secured the League Winners’ Shield with two matches still to be played, setting the record for the quickest the league title has ever been sealed. The City Football Group-owned side finished the league stage with 46 points from 20 games with 14 wins, 4 losses and 2 draws. This is the most amount of points garnered by an ISL side in the league stage ever. They also made the record for scoring the most number of goals — 54. Besides all this, they created history by scripting an 18-game unbeaten streak.
Their second defeat came on Sunday against East Bengal before their coronation. Stephen Constantine’s East Bengal were placed 10th on the points table and before the game, there were hopes that Mumbai could cruise to an easy victory. However, EBFC’s Noarem Mahesh Singh scored a goal in the 52nd minute to give a 1-0 lead to the Torch Bearers, one which they maintained till the end of the fixture. This was EBFC’s first win against the islanders.
Mumbai City, however, were not in the mood to let the loss dampen their party. The hosts celebrated the award ceremony in full spirits and later dropped a video, with the caption, “The coronation begins”.
Watch:
Mumbai City also shared a clip of their players breaking into celebrations after being presented the shield.
Take a look:
Before the game, Mumbai head coach Des Buckingham made quite a few changes to his starting line-up, including bringing in Ayush Chhikara. At half-time both teams were unable to register their name on the scoresheet.
Seven minutes into the second half, the visitors took the lead. Silva’s low ball from the right was left by Suhair, before Mahesh let it run onto his left foot and flashed it past Phurba Lachenpa.
Five minutes later, Chhangte was denied by a brilliant last-ditch diving block from Lalchungnunga. Just six minutes later, another chance came Mumbai City FC’s way when Halen Nongtdu’s acrobatic volley was headed for goal but kept out by Kamaljit.
In the final 15 minutes, Suhair had a couple of chances in quick succession but could not put the game to bed. The winger’s initial shot from the right side of the box was parried straight back into his path by Lachenpa, but his subsequent attempted lob lacked power. Five minutes later, the winger saw another shot from a difficult angle blocked by the keeper.
In the final five minutes, a ball came in from Chhangte on the left flank and flashed across the face of goal with no one to apply the final touch. The Torch Bearers’ defence faced a barrage of attacks in the closing stages but remained organised to keep their narrow lead intact till the end of the match. It was the first time this season that Mumbai City FC failed to score.
The win saw East Bengal reclaim ninth place from Jamshedpur FC. The win gives the Torch Bearers the momentum they needed before concluding their season with the Kolkata Derby on February 25. The league phase has concluded for the Islanders who next show up in the ISL semi-final on March 7.
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