Joshimar put Chirag ahead in the 16th minute while Ashim Biswas doubled the lead at the stroke of half-time.
An inspiring performance by Chirag United striker Joshimar da Silva Martins gave the visitors a comfortable 2-0 win over a jaded Mumbai FC in a Round 16 encounter of the I-League played at the Cooperage football ground on Tuesday.
Joshimar put Chirag ahead in the 16th minute while Ashim Biswas doubled the lead at the stroke of half-time. After suffering two successive defeats in the return leg, the win helped Chirag to bounce back into top five in league standings. They now find themselves at fourth place with 26 points in kitty.
It was a day when nothing went right for the hosts with the entire team looking completely off colour. Their defence looked jittery while the midfield and forward line looked completely out of sync.
“It was a bad day for us. It was just one of those days where everything you try doesn’t work out. But there’s no point looking back at this performance. We’ll just forget it as a bad dream,” Mumbai FC coach Khalid Jamil said.
Jamil had to start without Subhas Chakraborthy and Bashiru Mohammad while Noel Wilson, though injured, started the match in the midfield. Their influential striker Abhishek Yadav, who is down with fever, couldn’t make the squad. Absence of these players seemed to affect their rhythm and though Chakraborthy and Bashiru were introduced in the second period, they failed to have any impact on the proceedings.
Chirag, meanwhile, didn’t seem to have any such problem despite missing two of their key players in Eduardo Chacon and Edmilson Marques. They controlled the game right from the whistle and made the most of an ineffective Mumbai midfield.
Joshimar looked in perfect mood, with the Brazilian constantly hovering around the opposition defence. He put Chirag ahead in the 16th minute after Mumbai FC failed to clear a corner and then sprinted half way down the pitch to set up the second one for Biswas.
The second half saw Chirag sitting back and protecting their lead. Jamil tried all tricks to change his side’s fortune but all they managed was a penalty appeal, which the referee was unhesitant to turn down. Mumbai are now placed ninth with 19 points.
Chirag’s stand-in coach Anjan Nath was ecstatic. “I am very happy with the win. It was important and morale boosting as we suffered two heavy defeats before this. We came here with the intention of not dropping points... so three points is quite a good result,” Nath said.
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