ISL 2022-23: Mumbai City FC beat East Bengal FC to reclaim top spot

Vipin Pawar/Focus Sports/ ISL

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A rejuvenated Mumbai City FC eased past East Bengal FC to reclaim the top spot in the Indian Super League on Friday at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata. Lalengmawia Ralte bagged a brace and Greg Stewart scored his third goal of the season in the 3-0 win.

The result Mumbai City FC to the top of the table, two points clear of Hyderabad FC. East Bengal FC remained eighth with nine points

Midfielder Charis Kyriakou returned to the starting XI for the hosts as Jordan O'Doherty missed out due to an injury. For the visitors, there were two changes in the back-four: Mourtada Fall made his second start of the season to replace the injured Rostyn Griffiths, and Mandar Dessai replaced Vignesh Dakshinamurthy at left-back.

Mumbai City FC almost snatched the lead inside five minutes when Lallianzuala Chhangte beat Ivan Gonzalez on the right side before playing it into the path of Stewart. The Scotsman took a touch before unleashing a powerful shot from a tight angle that was partially blocked by Kamaljit Singh. As the ball rolled towards the goal, Ankit Mukherjee cleared it off the line.

East Bengal FC's resistance was broken in the 26th minute when Ralte skipped the offside trap, pounced on a clever through-ball from Stewart before slotting it past Kamaljit. A little over five minutes later, Ahmed Jahouh's corner was volleyed onto the bar from close range by Fall.

Five minutes into the second half, Stewart doubles their lead. The East Bengal FC defenders failed to close the midfielder down as he fired the ball in from the edge of the box. The third goal came in the 59th minute when Chhangte, Bipin Singh, and Jorge Diaz played a series of quick passes in front of East Bengal's defence before Ralte scored his second of the night.

East Bengal had few moments of spark in the game. One of them came from substitute Eliandro dos Santos, whose goal-bound shot from inside the box was put out for a corner courtesy of a brilliant last-ditch block from Fall. In the 84th minute, substitute Tuhin Das let one fly from range as it went past Phurba Lachenpa and came off the upright.

In the dying minutes of the game, Vikram Singh went down in the box after a challenge from Jerry Lalrinzuala and Mumbai City were awarded a penalty. Substitute Gurkirat Singh stepped up to take it but couldn't make it 4-0.

Next, Mumbai City will be in action on Christmas Eve at home against Chennaiyin FC while East Bengal will get an extended break before hosting Bengaluru FC on December 30.