Hans Mulder, Mads Junker, Dos Santos and Manish Bhargav scored for Delhi, which led 1-0 at half-time. For Mumbai, Abhishek Yadav on his first substitute appearance he scored four minutes from full time, but that was all Mumbai could manage on the night.

After Mulder scored in the first half, Delhi went onto the offensive after the change of ends. The first breakthrough after the break came from Mads Junker when Dos Santos sent a through ball inside the box. Junker pushed it past Mumbai goalkeeper Subrata Paul.

Dos Santos got his due when he collected a spectacular cross from Francis inside the 18-yard box. The no.16 nonchalantly headed it in the right hand top corner to score the third one for Delhi.

In injury time Steven Dias played a cross from the right flank which Subrata saved. But the ball ricocheted towards Manish, after another save he blasted it inside the goal.

Four minutes before the final goal, Mumbai found its name on score-sheet when Abhishek Yadav struck home a consolation goal.

It was a pass from Sushil Kumar Singh just outside the 6-yard box and Abhishek placed it well after taking a first time left-footed shot that landed in the left bottom corner.

Earlier, Delhi Dynamos went into offensive early on when Santos played a superb back heel for his teammate who took a good touch to get away from the defenders. Dinis took the ball and crossed it towards the far post where Mads Junker was lurking.

Delhi’s relentless attacks continued as Mads Junker collected a through ball and manages to slide it past Subrata Paul in the 12th minute. The ball rolled towards the goal but Deepak got to it and cleared the ball.

Mumbai escaped a Francis onslaught when he sent a good cross over Subrata’s head towards the far post. Mumbai City FC’s Nabi rushed to clear after the goalkeeper had messed up collecting the ball in the 20th minute.

With midfielder Moritz and striker Anelka missing Mumbai looked a tad below par. There was a lack of creativity in the midfield as Freddie Ljungberg was yet to open up and show his class.

Mumbai got its best chance in the 25th minute with Subhash collected the ball on the right flank and sent a neat cross inside the box. Sushil jumped high and connected well but the ball flew just over the cross bar.

Just as half-time approached Hans Mulder fired a low ranger into the nets to give home team a 1-0 lead.

On a low cross from Henrique Denis in the right flank, Mumbai City’s Manuel Friedrich failed to clear as the ball kissed his feet and strayed into the box. It went towards Francis Fernandes, who nicked it for Hans Mulder and Mulder then shot it into the goal.

Mumbai City FC coach Peter Reid was obviously disappointed. “It is a disappointing result. We didn’t play very well out there, and got what we deserved,” Reid said.

“We now need to focus on our game against Pune, and hopefully we would get a win there. We are hopeful that Nicolas Anelka would be fit to play in that game,” Reid added.

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The team, co-owned by Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor and Chartered Accountant Bimal Parekh, has been performing consistently so far but the lack of goals and a loss in their last encounter against league leaders Chennaiyin FC means that they not only need to win but win big to stay in hunt for the semi-final spot.

Mumbai City FC currently has 12 points with a goal difference of -5 and coach Peter Reid would be keen to improve on both counts in the remaining four matches.

While the team has managed five clean sheets in their last six games, it is the count of just two goals that has been worrying the team management and they have been working on many drills in training to set the ball rolling on the field.

The team has been creating a handful of chances in every game and Reid would be happy that experienced campaigners like Freddie Ljungburg of Sweden and skipper Syed Rahim Nabi are available for selection after fully recovering from their respective injuries, but the team will be missing the services of Nicolas Anelka and Andre Moritz due to injury plus Johann Letzelder due to a suspension.

Mumbai City FC could also take confidence from the fact that when the two teams met in Mumbai the last time, Delhi Dynamos hardly came close to the visitor’s citadel through-out the 90 minute encounter and they continue to boast of one of the best defence in the tournament.

“We are expecting a difficult game tomorrow. If you look at the table, we have had some disappointing results recently. Having said that, anyone could beat anyone in this league. We are excited about tomorrow’s game.”Peter Reid, Mumbai City FC coach said

“We were all over the place defensively in the last 10 minutes of our previous game, as we went in search of a goal. Hopefully, we will be a bit more tight (defensively) at the start tomorrow. I know we are quite capable of coming to Delhi and winning. At the same time, Delhi are quite capable of beating us. That’s what makes it very exciting,” Peter Reid, Mumbai City FC coach added.

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Mumbai City FC

French striker Nicolas Anelka scored the winning goal for the second time in two matches for the hosts who now have nine points from six outings.

The winning goal came a minute before the hour mark when Anelka tapped in a cross from Subhash Singh, who accelerated from the right flank after selling a dummy to one Delhi Dynamos defender and delivering a pin-point cross for the Frenchman.

The lone goal proved enough in the final analysis but the team could have been left ruing their forward lines inability to kill the game despite four or five clear opportunities on the counter with the visitors pressing hard for an equaliser.

Those near misses almost came to haunt them when Delhi Dynamos skipper Alessandro Del Piero’s header missed the goal post by a few centimetres and the Italian hung his head in disbelief in the 90th minute of the match that came alive only in the second half.

In contrast, the first half was a battle between the two midfields with none of the teams willing to commit more men forward and happy to retain possession. The hosts were even more cautious about maintaining their shape and that meant that the only attempts at goal from Delhi Dynamos were long rangers that were either off the mark or easy for custodian Subrata Pal to connect.

Mumbai went into the match with the same starting XI that had grinded out a 1-0 victory over Kerala Blasters but were forced to make a change when skipper Syed Rahim Nabi got injured in the very first minute and had to be subsequently replaced by Peter Costa.

The earlier set back meant that the hosts needed some time to settle into a rhythm and till then the visitors enjoyed a bulk of possession but with nothing much to show for.

Mumbai City FC were happy playing the waiting game and it was only after the half an hour mark that the likes of Andre Moritz and Nicolas Anelka began weaving their magic.

The best chance to score for Mumbai City FC came through one such inter-linking play from the duo when Moritz nutmeg in the middle of the park and then played the ball to Anelka. But the unmarked Subhash Singh could only volley the Frenchman’s pin point cross into the ground and over the crossbar.

But the hosts showed a lot more purpose in the second half and their efforts were rewarded when Anelka found the net to send the DY Patil stadium in raptures.

After the goal, Mumbai City FC were willing to sit back and wait for counter attack opportunities, which came a plenty once Delhi Dynamos began to press higher. But on most occasions the final ball to the striker turned out to be below-par.

This left the hosts facing intense scrutiny in the last 10 minutes but some good fortune and an excellent performance from Pal under the bar, who kept Del Piero and company out with some unbelievable reflexes, saved the day.

Mumbai City FC coach Peter Reid credited the victory to a team effort and said it was important to continue the moment now. “It was a very good win for us and Anelka and Pal were superb today. Pal made a couple of good saves, especially of Del Piero to help us win three points.”

Pal was happy with his performance and said it was the disciplined effort of the defence that made all the difference.

Result

Mumbai City FC 1 (Nicolas Anelka 59) bt Delhi Dynamos FC 0

Hero of the Match: Nicolas Anelka
Emerging Player of the Match: Subrata Pal
Fitness Player of the Match: Jan Stohanzl
Swift Moment of the Match: Subash Singh

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Goa has played four matches with just one point and at the bottom of the table. Has this kind of performance come as a surprise to you?

Zico: Football never surpises me. So, we lost some games but we can also win and move on. We created some good opportunities and had chances but didn’t manage to concert them, even though we played well. This is the magic about football. Sometimes a team plays very well but doesn’t manage to score, while another team comes and scores. But then, that’s how football is. It’s all about football.

Many foreign players have come to India for the ISL. Your thoughts on that?

Zico: I think the difference with Japan was that they didn’t bring in too many foreign players. In my opinion at the ISL it’s not too good to have too many foreigners playing. The minimum of 5 Indian players is too less in my opinion. Since it’s the ISL, we have to encourage more Indian football.

FC Goa will miss a lot of players at the next match. Some injured, some not fit, suspended. How difficult will it be to play well tomorrow?

Zico: We never think it’s only 11 players, we have a group of 27 players. All 27 players are ready to play. Some are injured but the others are fit and ready to play. Players have been picked for the team because they are good and they are prepared to play. So I’m not too worried about that. I told them that they have to be prepared to play at any time, in any situation. We will play 11 against 11.

Ranti, you have played at the I-league and ISL. Have scored high at I-league, but not at the ISL. Is the standard of football higher in the ISL?

Ranti: There are only 2 strikers, Dudu and me, who have played for the I-league and ISL. There are also a lot of foreign players making the top 11. Also, we have been playing only for a couple of weeks but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t score. It’s about patience.

Coach, AIFF has announced that the ban for Habbas has been reduced from 4 to 2 games. Your comments?

Zico: Congratulations to their lawyers.

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