132nd Durand Cup: Mumbai City blank Jamshedpur FC 5-0 for second consecutive win

Kolkata, Aug 8 (IANS) Mumbai City FC cruised to their second consecutive victory as they comfortably beat Jamshedpur FC 5-0 in a Group B fixture of the 132nd Durand Cup at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharathi Krirangan here on Tuesday.

With this victory, Mumbai City FC took the top spot in the group as Jorge Pereyra Diaz (2), Alberto Noguera, Yoell Van Nieff and Vikram Partap Singh scored for the Islanders against Jamshedpur FC.

The youngsters of Jamshedpur FC made a fast start to the game as they forced a save out of Phurba Lachenpa within 20 seconds of the save from an attempt by Bivan Laskar. 

Mumbai settled into the game quickly as they started to play their usual style of football. Greg Stewart hit the crossbar from a freekick and Mehtab Singh forced a save out of JFC keeper Mohit Singh Dhami. Mumbai found the net in the 7th minute through Jorge Pereyra Diaz. 

A good interchange play between Greg Stewart and Vikram Partap Singh in the right resulted in the latter finding Pereyra Diaz free inside the box who had the easiest of finishes to open the scoring for the Islanders.

Pereyra Diaz scored his second goal to double their lead in the 14th minute. Bipin Singh’s cutback cross found Diaz inside the box and he finished expertly after a good one–two pass with Alberto Noguera. Mumbai City piled the pressure on the youngsters of Jamshedpur FC. Mohit Singh Dhami was brilliant in between the goalposts as he pulled off some great saves to keep the score at 2-0. 

The Islanders found the third goal soon enough through Alberto Noguera. The pair of Pereyra Diaz and Noguera again played a one-two inside the box and the latter chipped the ball delightfully above Mohit Dhami. Mumbai City finished the half with 14 shots on the Jamshedpur goal.

The Islanders started the second half with the same intensity. They scored their fourth of the game in the second minute of the second half. New signing, Yoell Van Nieff finished neatly from the back post from a corner taken by Greg Stewart. Mumbai were on the attack again and scored their fifth goal after seven minutes.

Jamshedpur lost the ball in their half and Greg Stewart put a cross in a good area which was converted by Vikram Partap Singh via a diving header. Mumbai coach Des Buckingham brought in the changes at the hour mark as they were in a comfortable position against the young side of Jamshedpur. 

Mumbai City dropped their intensity a bit but were still looking dangerous going forward. On the other end, Jamshedpur were having their best spell of the game towards the closing stages. Asem Singh had a good chance to score but his shot went above the post. Mumbai City saw off the rest of the match for their second victory in the group.