I League : DSK Shivajians Win Maharashtra Derby Against Mumbai FC

DSK-vs-Mumbai-FC-match
DSK Shivajians won the Maha derby against Mumbai FC . Image Source : AIFF

Pune : DSK Shivajians emerged on top in the Maha derby , thanks to a 21 minute strike from Douhou Pierre . The home side began this crunch encounter making a total of five changes from the side that was humiliated by the defending champions Mohun Bagan only a week ago. Mumbai went into this one as favourites, winning two games on the bounce. What awaited them was a resolute DSK Shivajians side gunning for their first victory of the season.
The win helped DSK Shivajians rise to No 8 position from being at the bottom of the league table with 4 points from five matches. Mumbai FC remain at fourth position with 8 points.

As many expected, the visitors had the early share of chances, but poor distribution saw them make nothing concrete off their attempts. Shivajians, against the run of play, played on the break and had their first big chance of the outset materialize into a goal.

In the 20th minute, an exquisite pass from the middle of the park found Douhou Pierre in yards of space. The Ivorian took the ball in his stride and smashed the ball into the net to score Shivajians’ first goal of the season.
Moments later, Rafi had another telling opportunity, but his luck was out as the ball flew over the crossbar. There were few more half chances after the breakthrough, but the score at half-time was 1-0 in favour of the Shivajians.
In the second period, the Mumbai side kept most of the possession and were convincing with their forward passes. Their striker Eric Brown almost put them in the lead, but DSK keeper Subrata Paul made a great save from point-blank range to deny the striker.

The home side were having to give away possession and then play on the counter-attack. Much to their delight, Prakash Thorat had a golden opportunity to seal the game in the 65th minute, but rather than squaring it to an unmarked Douhou Pierre, he went for glory and made a colossal mess out of it.

Another golden opportunity fell to the visitors in the 77th minute. Captain Taisuke Matsugae controlled the ball with easy and fired a thundering shot towards Subrata’s goal. The shot beat the goalkeeper and it also beat the goal, as it came back off the post. An exceptional team buildup lacked the killer finish that would bring Mumbai back on track.

In the final minutes of the game, Shivajians moved to a rather defensive setup, parking the bus on a number of occasions. The centre-back pairing of Haroon Amiri and Don Bosco Fernandes were alert and agile throughout the course of the game and played a key role in their side’s performance on the day.

Mumbai FC had a number of chances late on in this one, but the Shivajians keeper was up to the ask whenever called upon and had an exceptional ninety minutes. The home side held on to a narrow margin to seal their first win of the season. They have now moved from the bottom to take seventh place on the table.