Mohun Bagan vs Mumbai City: Mariners edge Islanders to set up Durand Cup Semifinal clash

Mohun Bagan vs Mumbai City– Mohun Bagan see themselves in the Durand Cup Semifinal after a dominant win against Mumbai City FC. Anwar Ali scored the third goal of the night for the Mariners. MBSG eantered the half in a lone goal lead. Manvir Singh headed the Mariners into lead after Jorge Pereyra Diaz puts Islanders into parity. Following a corner, Boumous puts the ball in from the left side. Manvir heads it over past Lachenpa. Jason Cummings opened the scoring for the Mariners from the spot

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Mohun Bagan Super Giant Starting XI:

Vishal Kaith (Gk), Anwar Ali, Hector Yutse, Subhasish Bose (C), Anirudh Thapa, Manvir Singh, Hugo Boumous, Sahal Abdul Samad, Ashique kuruniyan, Jason Cummings. Armando Sadiku

Mumbai City FC Starting XI:

Phurba Lachenpa (Gk), Rahul Bheke, Mehtab Singh, Akash Mishra, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Apuia, Van Nief, Bipin Singh, Alberto Nonguera, Greg Stewart, Pereyra Diaz

Juan Ferrando, with two AFC Cup games on his mind, appeared outwitted by Emami East Bengal’s Carles Cuadrat in the Kolkata derby, however their performances against the Bangladesh Army and Punjab FC, their other two opponents left no doubt on the quality and depth they possessed as a side.

They followed up the derby blip up with two thoroughly professional wins in their AFC cup games and latest attacking signing Jason Cummings too seems to have settled down now.

Here is how Juan Ferrando summed things up in pre-match conversations, “Mumbai City FC are preparing for the AFC Champions League and we are preparing for the AFC Cup. So for both of the teams this match is going to be a good practice match. Mumbai is a difficult opponent. We will try our best to win. But before playing I would like to mention that Mumbai has got a break of ten days and we have got only three days before this match.“

AFC Cup 2023-24 fixtures for Odisha FC & Mohun Bagan Super Giant announced

The Islanders of course are also the most drilled and settled unit in the country with Des Buckingham now firmly in charge and the nucleus of the team now playing with a lot of cohesion and understanding.

Not to mention the quality of the side which is packed with the best of Indian footballers and strong foreign signings as mentioned by the MSSG coach and captain as well.

Focussed on our quarter final clash! 💪#MBSG #JoyMohunBagan #আমরাসবুজমেরুন pic.twitter.com/xkendlciD1
— Mohun Bagan Super Giant (@mohunbagansg) August 25, 2023

Des Buckingham was his usual calm confident self on the eve of the match saying among other things, “In the three games we’ve had in the Durand Cup, we’ve tried quite a few different things. We had a chance to look at different players and different ways of doing certain things. It’s been a good start, but that’s all it’s been. So I’m very happy with where we are at the moment and I’m very much looking forward to what’s to come.”