SHILLONG: An aggressive Rangdajied United FC had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Mumbai FC during a Round 15 match of the I-League at the JN Stadium here on Sunday.
The visitors, however, had to ward off repeated attacks from the Blues’ to earn a point from the outing.
Yohei Iwasaki gave the hosts the lead in the 19th minute only to be cancelled out by the veteran Mumbai FC striker Yusif Yakubu in the 36th minute.
Both the sides, especially the visitors, took some time to settle down in the cold conditions but the home team recovered faster and tested the Mumbai defence on several occasions.
The hosts opened up Mumbai’s back line in the 18th minute with a cross from Munmun Lugun that picked out Edmar Figueira unmarked in the box. It was only because the Brazilian needed a couple of seconds to bring the ball under control that his shot was blocked by a defender.
The resulting corner, however, brought about the first goal. Munmun on the near side took a good kick and Iwasaki rose to meet the ball and headed it in.
Figueira was again in the thick of the action in the 25th minute. In the box, he lost possession of the ball, but a loose clearance saw Manandeep Singh pounce, although his effort was blocked.
However, much against the run-of-play, Mumbai FC restored parity through the Nigerian striker Yusif Yakubu. He latched on to a perfect through ball on the left, got past two defenders before slotting the ball into the net, giving Subrata Paul no chance.
Iwasaki then had another shot at the goal from over 30 yards out in the dying minutes of the first half, but the alert Nidhin Lal comfortably kept the ball safe to go into the lemon break 1-1.
Crossing over, it was Rangdajied again who came close to scoring in the 65th minute when an Edmar Figueira header off a corner was saved by goalkeeper Nidhin Lal, with the hosts convinced the ball had crossed the goal line as the save was being made. The assistant referee, however, was unmoved by the Blues’ protestations, and the score remained 1-1.
RUFC, meanwhile, made all three of their changes by the 84th minute, bringing on David Ngaihte for Tomba Singh, T Lalnunpuia for Munmun and Sandesh Gadkari for Manandeep.
The hosts also received an advantage in numbers when Sandesh Jhingan was shown a red card in the 84rd minute for elbowing Figueira as both went for a header. The advantage did not count though as Rangdajied had to settle for a draw taking them to 12 points from 14 games. The Blues are just ahead of bottom-ranked Churchill Brothers.