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Defending champions Dempo stayed at the top of the heap, but the Armando Colaco’s team yet again saw the margin of their lead being reduced as Mumbai FC held them to a goalless draw in the Round XIII match of the I-league football championship here on Sunday (December 30).
There was no denying that Khalid Jamil’s Mumbai FC played much superior game to douse the Dempo firepower that is usually seen. Mumbai stuck to their plan and fortified their defence first as they took the field leaving Dempo very little room to manoeuvre.
Mumbai FC, which have won five and drawn two of their last seven I-League ties at home, were the better of the two teams over the 90 minutes having created more chances, keeping the defending champions at bay and nullifying their short and quick passing game.
“Today, we did not play the way Dempo plays and it was a hard-earned point away from home,” said Colaco after settling for a draw.
It was Khalid Jamil’s men, who came close to breaking the deadlock as early as the third minute, when Mumbai launched an attack with ND Opara’s cross finding Yusif Yakubu, who could not beat the charging Subhasish Roy Chowdhury.
This was the story of the afternoon for the Mumbai team who failed to put on their scoring boots as they missed chances galore.
On the other hand, Dempo were struggling to maintain their passing game that Colaco’s men are renowned for.
“Since our defeat against Pune FC (read 1-5), the boys have lost a little bit of confidence and not playing their natural game,” adds Colaco.
The Dempo strikers failed to threaten Mumbai custodian Luis Barreto throughout the game with Koko Sakibo firing blanks numerous times.
As for Mumbai, they were left ruing their missed chances and also a disallowed goal from Yusif Yakubu for being off-side.
“We had a very good game but our finishing could have been better. I am happy how we are playing and matching steps with the big teams,” states Mumbai coach Khalid Jamil after the match.
The result meant Dempo are still hanging on to the top berth with 29 points while Mumbai FC are at 5th spot with 20 points.
