Table toppers defeat defending champions Chennaiyin FC 2- 0 to qualify for semi-finals for the first time in three seasons
MUMBAI: Table toppers Mumbai City FC qualified for the semi-finals of the Indian Super League for the first time in three seasons after they outclassed defending champions Chennaiyin FC 2-0 here on Wednesday. Mumbai scored a goal in each half through Matias Defederico (32nd minute) and Krisztian Vadocz (60th), and should have won by a much bigger margin but for India captain Sunil Chhetri muffing two of the three giltedged chances in the last 10 minutes of the game. Mumbai did not start the game at the frenetic pace they set during their 5-0 thrashing of Kerala Blasters at this same ground four days ago, but they clearly had the better of the exchanges with their slick passing upfront. Chhetri, Defederico and captain Diego Forlan combined beautifully right through the game for Mumbai. The two teams had drawn 1-1 in the first leg encounter in Chennai earlier. The victory, Mumbai’s sixth from 13 games, took their points tally to 22 which was enough for them to qualify for the play-offs after failing to do so in 2014 and 2015. In the last edition, teams gaining 22 points had made it to the play-offs and in 2014 even teams having 19 points could qualify for the semis. Chennaiyin’s qualifying hopes, on the other hand, have receded considerably after suffering their fourth loss in 12 games. They remain in seventh spot with 14 points. Mumbai will conclude their round robin engagements with a home game against Delhi Dynamos on December 3. Chennaiyin have two more games in hand, against North East United at home on November 26 followed by their last league game against FC Goa away from home on December 1. Mumbai took the upper hand as they had done against the Blasters quite early but without the pace they had set in the previous game. The home team started slightly on the wrong foot when Brazilian defender Gerson Vieira picked up a yellow card quite early for a foul on Chennaiyin’s Norwegian recruit John Arne Riise. But that was the minor hiccup they had after which they took control of the proceedings and dominated the show. After coming near to scoring twice through Forlan and Chhetri whose cheeky back-heel was blocked by rival custodian Karanjit Singh, Mumbai took the lead with 13 minutes remaining for the first half to end. Defederico was on hand inside the box to net the ball in with a left-footed shot following a delightful short passing game between Vadocz and Chhetri on the left side of the box. Chhetri backpassed to the Argentine who slotted the ball in, to the delight of the noisy supporters of the home team. Mumbai City FC, then, sat back and defended well, but also got three golden chances to go further ahead, only to see Chhetri muff two of them. (PTI)