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JAMSHEDPUR — Mumbai City’s ISL Cup defence has gotten off to a poor start with the side losing 2-3 against Jamshedpur FC in the second game of the season at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Saturday. Petr Kratky’s men drew 2-2 against Mohun Bagan Super Giants in the opening game.
A brace by Javi Hernandez and a goal by Jordan Murray to hold on to a slender one-goal advantage and take the win despite goals by Nikos Karelis and Yoel Van Nieff.
The Islanders were the dominant side throughout the game which saw them retain 67.6 % possession of the ball. They also made more than twice the number of passes than their opponents with 446 compared to Jamshedpur’s 211.
Mumbai opened the scoring on the day with Karelis driving the ball outside the box from where he latched it into the top corner for a thumping finish in the 18th minute.
Kratky’s team controlled the game from theron but Jamshedpur equalised in the 36th minute when Imran Khan’s looping cross found a towering Murray who made no mistake in burying the ball in the back of the net.
Javi Hernandez joined in the party and extended Jamshedpur’s lead just six minutes later with the side winning a free kick. Hernandez put in another cross but was not able to find any teammates, which caught Mumbai’s goalkeeper in an awkward position as the ball bounced into the back of the net.
Khalid Jamil’s men kept up the newfound tempo in the second half when Hernandez once again when Murray found himself in acres of space on the wing and a cutback gave Hernandez a clear chance to shoot the first time and take the 3-1 lead.
A consolation goal by Van Nieff in the 77th minute was not enough to complete the comeback as the side will still look for their first win of the season.