ISL: Chhangte brace helps Mumbai City FC beat Odisha FC, regain top spot

Unbeaten in 12 matches Mumbai City FC rode on a brace of goals by Lallianzuala Chhangte to defeat Odisha FC 42 at the Kalinga Stadium here to go top of the table on MondayChhangte scored twice and set up one goal as all six goals in the match came in the second half which resulted in Odisha FC falling to their first defeat at homeThe win puts Mumbai City FC in the first place two points clear of defending champion Hyderabad FC while Odisha FCs third loss in four games means that Chennaiyin FC could come as close as two points to them in the 6th and final playoff place if they win their next game They stay at home to host East Bengal FC on Sunday while Mumbai City FC host Kerala Blasters at home on the same dayOdisha began the game pressing high and inviting Mumbai City FC to try and attack the space behind their defence In only the 2nd minute this plan almost came undone as Bipin Singh found himself free on the right flank drove towards the goal and dragged his shot wideAn openended first half followed with Odisha FC matching the visitors for the most part But 10 minutes after the halftime break Chhangte managed to break the deadlock Stewart missed a tapin chance off Chhangtes cross and Jorge Diaz had his shot saved by Amrinder Singh before Chhangtes slick onetwo with Diaz in the 55th minute gave him a chance to finish the job himselfAlso readISL El Khayati breaks league record as Chennaiyin FC thrash NorthEast United FC 73Odisha FCs equaliser in the 61st minute came through some topdrawer holdup play by Mauricio who received a long ball in midfield skipped past a couple of defenders and created a path towards the goal On that path he found Victor Rodriguez and continued his run to pick up the midfielders backwards flick that split open the defence Mauricio capped off the move that he started by slotting it past the goalkeeperFrom that moment on though the game tilted heavily towards the visitors Ahmed Jahouhs freekick in the 68th minute was saved by Amrinder Singh stretching to his right but his pass fell into the path of Bipin who was behind the wall and put Mumbai City FC into the lead again with a firsttime shotThe closing blows on Odisha FC were applied by Chhangte and Alberto Noguera First the midfielder who had come on to replace Greg Stewart slid in a through ball behind Odisha FCs very high defense to find Chhangte in the 79th minute Goalkeeper Amrinder rushed out of his box to try and intercept it but couldnt get his challenge right The ball bobbed up for Chhangte beside him and the winger passed it into an empty goal from outside the box He then returned the favour to Noguera in the 85th minute dribbling past defenders at the goal line before chipping it square for Noguera who was running in from midfield and put it away on the halfvolleyIn the 91st minute Mauricio added another bit of brilliance to his night waiting on the edge of the box for an aerial duel to finish and then thundering in a volley as the ball fell to him Odisha FC head coach Josep Gombau applauded the effort alongside the home fans but Mumbai City FCs efforts meant it was their first defeat at home this seasonThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever