Mumbai, Dec 21 (IANS) Nikolaos Karelis struck an early goal to steer Mumbai City FC to a lone-goal win against Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 match played at the Mumbai Football Arena (MFA) here on Saturday. The Islanders thus secured their fourth consecutive clean sheet in the competition, and moved from the seventh place to the fourth spot in the points table, accumulating 20 points from 12 games with five victories and draws each.

On the other hand, this match marked the third straight away game in which the Marina Machans were unable to find the back of the net.

Mumbai City FC dominated proceedings from the onset, pushing numbers ahead and employing a variety of options to dissect the Chennaiyin FC defence. Lallianzuala Chhangte came inwards on the centre to play a short pass to Yoell van Nieff, who took the onus and stormed down the middle to launch a shot from the outside of the box.

However, The shot was not intercepted in time by Ryan Edwards and Nikolaos Karelis took control of the loose ball and unleashed a left-foot effort to slot it into the bottom right corner in the eighth minute of the match.

Six minutes later, Karelis was again at the centre of the action, spearheading an offensive move and setting up the final delivery for Vikram Partap Singh, which the latter shot off target on the left side. Just before the 20th-minute mark, Lukas Brambilla tried to pull one back for the Marina Machans, interlinking with Kiyan Nassiri and receiving the ball at the left side of the 18-yard box. Brambilla’s shot was saved by Mumbai City FC goalkeeper TP Rehenesh.

Brambilla stayed on the hunt for a goal, taking a close-range shot in the 34th minute. He started the move on the inside channel of the left flank, passing it to Jitendra Singh, who relayed the ball back to the Brazilian. The attacker’s shot was blocked in time by Tiri, enabling the home team to stay afloat with their slender lead.

Contrary to the first half, Chennaiyin FC commenced the second essay on the front foot. Daniel Chima Chukwu assumed a freer role in the frontline, stretching the Mumbai City FC backline wide by moving to the left flank. He then put in a quick cross for Irfan Yadwad, who rushed in with a diving header, but the ball ricocheted off the crossbar in the 48th minute. Lalrinliana Hnamte pounced upon the ball from the outside of the box, launching a long-range effort but it was warded off as van Nieff put his body on the line to stop the shot from troubling the goalkeeper.

Chhangte tried to regain some of that losing momentum in the 54th minute, as he tested his luck from distance with an accurate shot from the left side that was eventually saved by Nawaz in the bottom right corner. The duo of Daniel and Irfan yet again teased the Mumbai City FC backline with a cohesive move in the 70th minute. The latter’s cross was nodded on target by the striker, but Rehenesh made a timely save in the bottom left corner, paving the way for the Islanders to see off the rest of the game comfortably and notch all three points.

In their next match, Mumbai City FC play NorthEast United FC on December 30, whereas Chennaiyin FC will be playing Bengaluru FC on December 28.

Courtesy Media Group: IANS

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