Mumbai bags early win over Churchill Brothers in Group D opener

At the Payyanad Stadium in Manjeri, Mumbai City FC left it late to defeat Churchill Brothers FC 2-1 in their first Super Cup 2023 clash on Tuesday, 11 April, 2023.
Mumbai City was made to earn their victory against the I-League outfit, having gone a goal down early in the game. Contrary to expectations, Churchill Brothers took the Indian Super League 2022-23 Shield Winners by surprise early in the game. Striker Ansumana Kromah took the ball away from Mumbai goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa in the 9th minute and put it in the back of the net to make it 1-0. It shocked the ISL outfit but also gave Churchill much-needed impetus and confidence in their game.
Des Buckingham’s men rallied together and produced wave after wave of attacks to eventually find an equaliser in the 27th minute. The breakthrough came via the head of the defender Mehtab Singh who nodded home from Rowllin Borges’ perfect cross as Mumbai City drew level.
Soon enough Mumbai City were the ones driving the game, creating a flurry of chances. The best of them fell to Vikram Partap Singh, who latched on to a cross after some brilliant individual play by Lallianzuala Chhangte on the right flank. The young striker failed to control the ball neatly, and missed a good opportunity to give his team the lead.
Mumbai City came close soon after, when Vignesh Dakshinamoorthy’s lobbed pass was met by a rising Rahul Bheke. Bheke, the captain for the day, headed towards the goal only to be denied by the width of the crossbar.
It was not all one-way traffic though. Churchill were patient to play on the counter and right before halftime, Kromah once again had the chance to give the Goan side the lead. The striker had driven into the box with Martin Chaves for support, but decided to go on his own and missed the goal by inches.
The first chance of the second half fell to Chaves himself, the Uruguayan’s shot safely in the hands of Lachenpa. Soon after, Mumbai City almost took the lead, substitute Gurkirat Singh heading towards goal from a Borges cross, only for Nora Fernandes to parry the ball away.
Ultimately, Mumbai City’s resilience and quality shone through. Late in injury time, Vikram Partap Singh was brought down inside the box by a reckless tackle, Joseph Clemente the guilty party. Chhangte stepped up to take the resultant penalty and slotted it home.
Mumbai City will next face fellow ISL counterparts Chennaiyin FC, on 19 April while Churchill Brothers go up against NorthEast United in Manjeri.