Mumbai win first home game with Forlan penalty

Mumbai City FC became the first team to breach NorthEast United's defence this season, as a second-half penalty from Diego Forlan gave the hosts three valuable points in a scrappy, tight contest at the Andheri Sports Complex.

NorthEast United were playing their third match in six days, and signs of fatigue were evident right from the off, as their midfielders Rowllin Borges and Romaric struggled to cope with the early pace of the game.

Mumbai, armed with energetic runners on the wings in Matias Defederico and Leo Costa, sensed their opponents' lowered intensity, and pressed high up the field. That pressure yielded an early chance for the hosts, as Forlan, found with space on the left, cut inside and struck a powerful effort straight at Subrata Pal.

Throughout the first half, Mumbai huffed and puffed, but just could not blow the NorthEast door down, as Didier Zokora and his defensive partner Gustavo Lazzaretti cleaned up everything hurled their way; a speculative long-range drive from right-back Aiborlang Khongjee was the closest the hosts came to a goal.

Mumbai's frustrations boiled over in midfield, and the game soon descended into a scrap, with as many as 14 fouls committed in the first 45 minutes.

At the other end, NorthEast were more than happy to let Mumbai keep sterile possession of the ball, as the visitors sat back and waited for an opportunity to counterattack in numbers, or try their luck from a set-piece. Their tactics were spot on, even if the execution was not quite up to the mark, as NorthEast spurned three good chances to take a deserved lead into the break.

First, in the 15th minute, a volley fell kindly in the path of Romaric, whose hit was sweet, but targeted too close to Mumbai keeper Roberto Tigrao. Katsumi Yusa, the scorer of the first ISL goal this season, then had a glorious chance to add to his tally towards the end of the half when he was played through by Nicolas Velez, but with just the keeper to beat, Yusa blasted over.

With seconds left for the half-time whistle and Mumbai desperately clinging on, Emiliano Alfaro twisted, turned and powered through the hosts' defence, and was only denied a goal by a crucial deflection.

Mumbai came out for the second half with more purpose and direction to their game, and were offered a glimpse at goal when Defederico ghosted into the box, but dragged his effort wide.

However, a minute later, the hosts were rewarded for their enterprise when Pronay Holder pounced on an unfortunate slip from NorthEast's right-back Reagan Singh, and took a touch inside the box. Reagan was caught in no-man's-land, and cynically brought down Holder, giving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Forlan, on the fringes of the game till then, stepped up to take the penalty and powerfully drove past Subrata.

1-0 to Mumbai, and suddenly, NorthEast, their defence having conceded a goal for the first time in more than three hours, were chasing the game.

The goal energised Mumbai but equally it forced NorthEast to come out of their shell in search of an equalizer, setting up a manic last 20 minutes.

Mumbai's attacking trio of Defederico, Forlan and Costa were afforded the freedom of Andheri, but Rowllin and Romaric starved them off the ball, instead feeding Alfaro and Katsumi with numerous opportunities to level the game.

However, as was the case in the first half, the visitors' finishing let them down. In the 74th minute, Alfaro was played through by his strike partner Velez, but from a tight angle, he could only shoot straight at the keeper.

Two minutes later, Alfaro turned creator, dancing past the entire Mumbai defence and setting up Katsumi, but once again, the Japanese midfielder's finishing deserted him, his side-footed effort hit weakly at goal. NorthEast brought on Holicharan Narzary in place of Seityasen Singh, and he immediately sprung to action, cutting in from the right and striking one from distance just wide of the net.

Time was running out quickly for NorthEast, and Mumbai's defence -- held together by Lucian Goian and Anwar Ali -- saw off the final few minutes without any major scare.

Mumbai's victory means a perfect start to the season for them -- two games, two goals, two clean-sheets and six points. NorthEast still remain on top, but have played more games than anyone else.