Goa, Mumbai City settle for goalless draw

The Indian Super League (ISL) match between hosts FC Goa and Mumbai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here Sunday ended in a stalemate with neither team managing to score.

It was the visitors' first draw of ISL which takes them to fourth spot in the table with 10 points whereas Goa stay rooted at the bottom with five.

The first half began with Goa dominating proceedings, playing attacking football and going forward with some build-up play. The heat and humidity seemed to have an impact as well as after the first 15 minutes, Goa went into their shell with Mumbai taking control.

The closest that the visitors got to scoring was when Subhash Singh put the ball in the back of the net but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside.

The momentum again switched towards the end of the half with Goa looking more threatening again. Home defender Gregory Arnolin came close to scoring from a corner but his header was not accurate enough.

The first half also saw a water break taken to allow the players to replenish themselves in the unforgiving climate.

The second half was similar with the teams tiring out and the speed of play going down. Arnolin once again came closest to scoring for the hosts from a corner, this time beating Mumbai City keeper Subrata Paul all ends up, but his shot hit the crossbar.

Goa had an incredible nine corners awarded in the game but, as their story has been so far, did not manage to convert any of their chances. Jan ?tohanzl was a stand-out performer for the visitors and was justly named player of the match.

Goa travel to the national capital to face Delhi Dynamos FC in their eighth match Nov 13 while Mumbai City will play their second straight away game, going to Kochi to face the Kerala Blasters FC in their next encounter Nov 12.