ISL 2023-24: Late goals deny Punjab FC win against Mumbai City FC

Ten Men Punjab Football Club (PFC) went down 2-1 against Mumbai City FC in Round 6 of the Indian Super League which was played here at the Mumbai Football Arena. Luca Majcen scored the opener for the Shers while Greg Stewart and Jorge Pereyra Diaz’s late goals gave the victory for the Islanders. PFC defender Dimitrios Chatziisalas was shown the marching orders in the dying minutes of the game.
Punjab FC Head Coach Staikos Vergetis made two changes to the starting lineup bringing in defender Nongmeikapam Suresh Meitei and mid-fielder Ashis Pradhan in place of Melroy Assisi and Brandon Vanlalremdika. Mumbai City FC Head Coach Desmond Buckingham lined his team up in a 4-3-3 formation at their home ground.
The match began with an early attack from Mumbai City FC as Vikram Pratap Singh took an ambitious attempt from the right edge of the box but it went off the target. Vikram Pratap Singh was booked early in the game for a nasty challenge on Nikhil Pradhan. Both teams looked for an early advantage in the game. Punjab FC was in a better tactical situation today, breaking the Mumbai City defence and well defending their box after the last match. The coach certainly made some new strategies in the hope of a win today. Punjab FC got a chance to take an advantage earlier in the game as Juan Mera with an excellent opportunity took a shot on goal, but it went directly into the hands of the Mumbai City goalkeeper Mohammad Nawaz.
Rostyn Griffiths was shown yellow for a nasty challenge on Juan Mera. 30 Mins to the game and both the teams were still looking for an opening goal. Punjab and Mumbai both were in back-to-back attack mode. Mumbai City FC, breakthrough with a counterattack, but was unable to get through the Punjab defense. No doubt Punjab City has made an upgrade from their last match. Punjab FC took the lead from a counterattack. It was a solo run through the center and Luka Majcen, with excellent dribbling got through the defenders found the way, and took the shot and the ball went straight into the bottom left corner.
Mumbai City FC has their 5 players booked before the half-time. The referee flashed a yellow card to Greg Stewart for play-acting and further, Mehtab Singh and Rahul Bheke were also shown a yellow card for arguing with the referee on his decision. Punjab Defender Dimitris was booked and Mumbai won a free kick but Mumbai City FC’s free-kick delivery went far above the crossbar. Punjab FC defended their line and took a lead ahead of the first half.
Mumbai City FC was putting the PFC defence under pressure from the initial exchanges of the second half however Punjab FC showed real attacking tactics with back-to-back attacks. PFC Coach Staikos Vergetis made a tactical as Brandon came in and replaced Krishananda Singh to hold the lead and take it away. Punjab FC keeper Ravi Kumar was booked for time wasting just after Apuia made an ambitious attempt but it was saved by Ravi Kumar. Daniel Lalhlimpuia came in to replace Juan Mera and Mahdi Talal made his way out for Mashoor Sherif. Mumbai City, created pressure on the Punjab FC box, by trying to pitch through the defenders.
Punjab FC was playing with a defensive strategy in the latter half trying to block the Mumbai City attack and heavily marking the attackers. Mashoor Shareef was shown a yellow card for an unnecessary foul. In the 82nd minute, Mumbai City equalized, as Greg Stewart took a long shot outside the box and put it in. Just after a few seconds, Jorge Pereyra Diaz found the bottom right corner of the net giving Mumbai the lead assisted by Super Sub Chhangte. Punjab FC’s Greek defender Dimitris conceded the second yellow card of the game and was sent off. Just after that, the referee blew the final whistle of the game and it ended 2-1 in favor of Mumbai City FC.
Punjab FC has two points from six matches while Mumbai City FC has eleven points from five matches. Punjab FC will face Hyderabad in their next match on November 7 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.