The reigning Indian Super League champions were at their brilliant best in the rematch of last season’s final against ATK Mohun Bagan. The incumbent champions raced into a five-goal lead before David Williams scored a consolation for ATKMB.
City climbed to the summit, thanks to a huge win over ATK Mohun Bagan – the team they had beaten to lift the trophy last season. The Mariners were no match for the Islanders, who raced into a five-goal lead before the hour mark. Afterwards, David Williams pulled a goal back for ATKMB to rescue some of their pride.
It took Mumbai just four minutes to race into the lead. Bipin Singh – who won the final for Mumbai with a last-minute goal the previous year – crossed from the left into the corridor of uncertainty, where an arriving Igor Angulo failed to get a telling touch.
Nonetheless, the ball skipped to Vikram Pratap Singh at the back post, and the teenager was left with the simplest of tap-ins. 25 minutes into the game, Mumbai struck for the second time; It was the same combination – with Bipin providing for Vikram – and it produced a near-identical goal.
Mumbai took a three-goal advantage with them into the break, the last of which was scored by Angulo. As ATKMB failed to convincingly clear their lines from a corner, Mandar Rao Desai put the ball back into a dangerous area, where Mourtada Fall rose highest to head it into the path of Angulo for an easy finish.
Eleven seconds after the restart, things got a little worse for the Mariners as Deepak Tangri was sent off for lashing out on Vikram. From the resulting free-kick, Fall headed the ball past Amrinder to put Mumbai four-nil up.
Bipin capped off a fine display by scoring Mumbai’s fifth five minutes later; the attacker pounced on a loose ball in midfield, played a give-and-go with Angulo, and finished emphatically into the corner from inside the box.
There was still time for Williams to come off the bench and score a consolation for ATKMB, but in the end, the Mariners proved no match for the Islanders, who climbed to the top of the table thanks to this win.
