Mumbai prevail in Maha derby

Mumbai: Mumbai FC started their campaign with 1-0 win over state rivals DSK Shivajians at the Cooperage ground here on Sunday. Under new coach Santosh Kashyap the young Mumbai brigade devoid of any foreign player showed enough resilience to stave off stiff challenge from Shivajians.

Former Bengaluru FC player Thoi Singh made memorable Mumbai FC start with a breathtaking goal in the first half that separated the sides in the end.

Shivajians had better measure of the game in the first half and had many half chances going their way but they couldn’t capitalise to give host’s a window of opportunity. Mumbai FC who had been just defending for the first 20 minutes went ahead from nowhere with Thoi scoring a stunner in the 21st minute.

Thoi unleashed a rasping from outside box following a quick counter by the home side. The Manipur central midfielder produced a moment of brilliance to find the lower side of the bar prompting the ball to roll in, much to the dismay of visitors’ goalkeeper Soram Poirei Anganba.

Chennai, Minerva share points
The much-anticipated battle between the two newcomers, Chennai City FC and Minerva Punjab FC, failed to provide a winner as it finished 0-0 in New Delhi. It was the visitors who started the game on a better note but Chennai created the first real chance of the game in the 5th minute but no one could latch on to a square-pass from Charles.