Mumbai City FC registered a 1-0 win over Chennayin FC in a thrilling final Group D match but it was not enough to secure a place in the semifinals of the Super Cup football tournament here.
Ayush Chhikara scored his maiden goal in Mumbai colours on Wednesday night.
However, following NorthEast United’s 6-3 win over Churchill Brothers, the result was not enough to earn a semifinal place as the Islanders bowed out of the tournament with a win.
Proceedings kicked off with early pressure from Chennayin FC, who did not allow Mumbai City FC to find their rhythm in the first 10 minutes.
In the ninth minute, Rowllin Borges from deep in the Mumbai City box deployed an incisive long ball and immediately put Chhangte into play on the right. Chhangte burst forward with pace and played into a nearly empty box, only for it to be cleared by Vafa.
Nawaz was called into action in the 14th minute when Dueker played a long grounded ball to Rahim who dribbled his way into the box and fired a low driven shot that was kept out by a spectacular save by Nawaz, diving to his right.
In the 19th minute, an illegal back pass into Samik Mitra’s hands in the Chennaiyin goal, forced by the pressure from the Mumbai forward line, led to an indirect free kick on the edge of the six-yard box.
Rowllin Borges let fly a driven strike that was deflected by a tightly packed Chennayin defence on the goal line.
Soon after in the 25th minute, the touch of Apuia from the centre of the park found Vikram with a lobbed through ball as he was surging forward on the right wing.
Chennayin FC’s Narayan denied the move with a good piece of defending.
In the 33rd minute, Mumbai City broke the deadlock. The play began with Rahul Bheke just outside the Mumbai box as he played a quick ball to Chhangte, who cleverly played in Bipin Singh, behind the defenders.
Bipin burst forward on the left flank with intent and as he penetrated the box, he deftly slid it across the six-yard box, on a platter for a young Ayush Chhikara who found the back of the net for his first ever goal for the club.
In the second half, Chennayin FC once again looked to be on the offensive. Their sense of urgency was abundantly clear, but they were unable to sting a threatening attack against the compact defensive line of the Islanders.
In the 52nd minute, Edwin delivered a precise cross from the edge of the penalty box, and Karikari rose to powerfully head the ball towards the goal, but Nawaz was ready to make yet another critical save.
Mumbai City FC displayed tremendous resolve as they endured a great deal of pressure from the Chennayin forward line and refused to crumble defensively.
In the 73rd minute, the experienced Bheke made another imperative block. Duker tried to square it into the box, but was denied by the Mumbai skipper.
In the 79th minute, Mehtab came to the rescue yet again, after a promising move down the right flank, Karirkari fired for Chenayyin in the box, but it was blocked by Mehtab yet again, to continue his stellar game.
In the end, the Mumbai unit held on to their clean sheet, to take the full three points from the encounter.