After NorthEast United FC bagged their first three points in the Indian Super League on Tuesday, it was the time for Mumbai City FC to replicate the same. The bottom-placed sides are finally catching up to the other teams now.
And cometh the hour, cometh the man. Indian football veteran forward Sunil Chhetri got on the scoresheet, not once but twice -- in the 13th minute as well as the 74th minute -- to get his side's campaign in the tournament up and running.
And this win got the home side out of the bottom of the table once again.
The first half remained a cagey affair with not many chances coming from either ends. But the home side remained lucky as they got the lead through Sunil Chhetri within the first 15 minutes of play.
The Indian talisman played a long through ball to Haitian Sony Norde just outside the box, and the lethal attacker pulled the trigger, as was expected. However, his shot was blocked by Delhi Dynamos defender Anas, and a sprinting Chhetri slotted home on the rebound for his maiden goal of the ISL.
Subrata Paul remained well in the back for the Mumbai side as he denied ex-Chelsea man Florent Malouda the first shot on target of the day in the fifth minute, by making a comfortable save.
Robin Singh, Hans Mulder all tried their luck, but couldn't beat the Indian custodian.
For the visitors, Souvik Chakraborty showcased a good display in the right back, as he denied Norde on many occasions. The Haitian forced a tremendous save from Toni Doblas in the 19th minute of play following a superb free-kick.
Another good moment of the half saw Norde beat the offside trap following a defence-splitting pass from Aguilera. The Haiti international delivered a lethal cross to Subhash from the right flank, but the Indian's volley on goal was way off target.
There was constant battle as well between Delhi's star man Gustavo dos Santos and Aitor Fernandez, resulting to a scuffle on many occasions as well. The home side led 1-0 at half time.
The shot of the second half came in the 66th minute as Subhash Singh went for an amazing goal, as he hit a powerful piledriver from way outside the box, but it rattled the crossbar. It was definitely a moment of relief for Doblas as the Spanish custodian never got any fingertip on the ball.
Sony Norde had an amazing chance to make it 2-0 for Mumbai just four minutes later, as the Haitian went clean through and controlled Sunil Chhetri's brilliant chipped ball inside the box. However, it remained another missed chance for Norde as Doblas just about stretched his leg to latch on the ball.
The magic of the Mumbai City FC duo however stole away the limelight just moments later as Norde used his dribbling prowess to make Doblas come out of the box, but did he only knew the Haitian's next move. Norde played the ball through to Chhetri, and the Indian veteran slotted the ball home subtly.
There was a top save by Doblas in the 87th minute as he dived to his right to save a close-range header from Ashutosh Mehta.
But that was the all the home side could do. Robin Singh came close to scoring from a header and Souvik Chakraborty also went for a stunner at the death, but it was just not their day.
The goals and highlights from the game can be found HERE.
