New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS) Nikolaos Karelis scored a second-half equaliser as Mumbai City came back from a goal deficit to hold Punjab FC to a 1-1 draw in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday night. The Islanders kept 60.8% of the possession, but Punjab FC took five shots on target as compared to the two of the visitors.
Mumbai City FC have gotten to 24 points, occupying the sixth spot, whereas the home team is eighth with 20 points, drawing twice and losing thrice in their last five encounters.
Mumbai City FC got the first real opportunity of the game in the 14th minute to get the lead, as attacking midfielder Brandon Fernandes served an impeccable corner kick from the right side. Instead of aiming to go deep inside the box, his delivery was targeted for Nikolaos Karelis in the near post, and the striker did well to get into an unmarked spot and adjust his position, but ended up hitting the bar with his effort.
Punjab FC had Luka Majcen break the deadlock in the added time of the first half. The home team arguably surprised the Mumbai City FC defence by trying to hit them on a fast break. Luka Majcen rushed ahead down the centre, passing the ball to Asmir Suljic, who took two touches, burst forward, and attempted a slick through ball back for Majcen. The striker picked up the ball and drilled it into the bottom right corner.
Mumbai City FC pulled the equaliser back in the 58th minute, producing a coordinated team effort initiated by Vikram Partap Singh bringing down a long ball on the right flank. Vikram worked his way in, before laying the ball behind for Yoell van Nieff. The midfielder took a couple of steps ahead, before passing to Karelis, who was at the edge of the box. The striker made a sharp turn and hammered home on the bottom right corner to draw the scores level.
Eight minutes later, Jayesh Rane swung into the centre of attention, spotting Vikram outside the box with space in front. The attacker unleashed a shot that missed the right post by a whisker.
Punjab FC began regaining rhythm soon afterwards, as Ezequiel Vidal and Nihal Sudheesh combined in the attacking third to cause trouble to the Mumbai City FC backline. Vidal trusted Nihal in the 74th minute at the centre of the box with a precise pass that the latter did well to target at the top right corner. The shot was saved by TP Rehenesh in time though.
Brandon was exemplary from another corner kick, merely five minutes later, as his cross met Mehtab Singh in the middle of the 18-yard area. Mehtab’s headed effort had tremendous power but lacked direction, landing beyond the left side of the goal.
In the 87th minute, Mumbai City FC were absorbing pressure from a cohesive Punjab FC attack. They immediately broke on a counter-attack, but the entire move couldn’t culminate in a neat finish in the end, as van Nieff took a left-footed long ranger shot from over 35 yards out, missing hitting the target by a fair margin, as both teams walked away with a point each from the game.
Mumbai City FC will next play Mohammedan SC on January 26, whereas Punjab FC are set to square off against Jamshedpur FC on January 28.
–IANS
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