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ISL 2016: Mumbai City FC break hoodoo, enter maiden playoffs

Mumbai City FC galloped into the play-offs courtesy goals from Defederico and Vadocz.

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Mumbai City’s Matias Defederico (R) celebrates his goal with Diego Forlan (C) on Wednesday
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The curse has been done away with. Mumbai City FC's new recruits stood the challenge to break the group stage hoodoo and take the Blue brigade to their maiden playoffs with a resounding 2-0 victory over Chennaiyin FC at the Mumbai Football Arena here on Wednesday.

A win over the defending champions would have been enough for the hosts to progress to the next round and after a dull half hour, the game burst into life in the 32nd minute when Sunil Chhetri orchestrated a move that led to Mumbai's first goal.

The India captain scooted into the box from the left while playing a quick one two with Krisztian Vadocz and then squared the ball which took a slight deflection and fell to Matias Defederico, who made no mistake in putting it at the back of the net.

Apart from Atletico de Kolkata, none of the other teams have been able to equalise in Mumbai after being 0-1 down. Chennaiyin tried their best to defy the odds with some long range efforts but the safe hands of Mumbai custodian Amrinder Singh – who is yet to concede a goal this season – neutralised them.

Fresh off a hat-trick in the Kerala match, Diego Forlan found his radar once again from a freekick just before half time but goalkeeper Karanjit Singh palmed it away to avert danger.

Chennaiyin came out all guns blazing in the second half but this Marco Materazzi-coached outfit looked a pale shadow of its previous self as it lacked the edge in the attacking third.

Soon, Mumbai put the game beyond them as Hungarian midfielder Vadocz, left free by his marker Hans Mulder, volleyed home from the edge of the box to give a 2-0 lead to the table toppers in the 60th minute.

Chhetri could have had at least two goals to his name in the space of one minute but on both occasions, he blasted the ball over the cross bar with Karanjit at his mercy.

Mumbai should definitely have added the third in the 89th minute when their marquee star Forlan dished out a pass in the box to Brazilian forward Thiago Dos Santos Cunha. With only the goalie to beat, Cunha inexplicably managed to find Karanjit and not the net.

Mumbai sit pretty on top of the table with 22 points, while this loss not only pushed Chennaiyin down to the seventh spot but also hampered their goal difference (-4), which would come in handy with a lot teams separated by just one point at the bottom of the chart.

Mumbai coach Alexandre Guimaraes was hired to provide the extra ammunition to the Ranbir Kapoor co-owned-side, which always stayed in the hunt but never made to the last four in the past seasons. He will now have 10 days to revitalise his players before the last game on December 3, which would act as a rehearsal for the playoffs.

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