VASCO: Hosts Salgaocar FC twice took the lead only to let the advantage slip through their fingers with a patchy performance before settling for a 2-2 draw against Mumbai FC in a 11th round
I-League
encounter at the Tilak Maidan on Saturday.
Missing was the pluck, passion, perseverance and finesse that earned them a spectacular win over Kolkata giants
East Bengal
in their last outing. Mumbai played smart, clamped down on
Thonghosiem Haokip
and
Calvin Mbarga
and showed great resilience in defence even as the rising humidity slowed down the players. Two brilliant strikes on either side of the break through Jackichand Singh and Brian Mascarenhas, the latter's high cross that looked harmless, stunned the goalkeeper as it dipped suddenly and sneaked into the roof of the right corner of the net, raised visions of a home victory.
However, Mumbai neutralised Brian Mascarenhas' 25th minute strike when Salgaocar wingback Regan Singh needlessly hacked down Sushil Kumar Singh who confidently converted from the spot.
Referee Animesh Biswas did not make things any better for Salgaocar when he awarded Mumbai a second penalty for a handball that was never really intentional when a quick clearance from the defence saw the ball ricochet off a Salgaocar defender's hand in a melee. Ryuki Kozawa confidently converted from the spot in the 65th minute to restore parity for Mumbai once again.
Thereafter, Mumbai found their rhythm and settled into a groove, playing the holding game with elan. The vast richness of experience in Anwar Ali, Sushil Kumar, the livewire Eric Brown and buzzing Kozawa, Alan Dias, Ashutosh Mehta and Jayesh Rane ensured they dictated terms but only just as Mumbai did eventually achieve what they set out to do snatch an away point.
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