Mumbai FC drub DSK Shivajians to end league on a high

Struggling for form in the latter half of the I-League football season, Mumbai FC turned on the screws on debutants and Maharashtra state rivals DSK Shivajians to finish on a high with a stunning 4-0 margin at the Cooperage ground here today.
Facing the danger of being relegated to the lower division next season going into the game, Mumbai FC not only avoided it but came up with their most emphatic victory of the season to steam-roll the rivals from across the Sahyadri ranges.
Goals from Jayesh Rane (20th minute), Eric Brown (22nd) and Sushil Kumar Singh (38th) in the first half gave the Khalid Jamil-coached hosts team, egged on by their supporters, a handy 3-0 lead and then crossing over Mumbai FC got a late goal from their very impressive foreign import Brown in the last minute to seal a resounding win.

Mumbai FC finished with 19 points and in fifth position, their best-ever in this competition and also qualified for the Federation Cup to start on April 30.
The super show meant they will meet Sporting Clube de Goa, who finished in fourth place, in the revamped Federation Cup.
The Mumbai side started positively and aggressively. They showed a good build up towards the rival citadel and came close to taking the lead in the sixth minute, but Rane was unable to direct his try at goal.

However, it did not take the Mumbai team too long to forge ahead and they finally found the target when junior India striker Rane drew first blood with a clinical finish.

Overlapping wing back Ashutosh Mehta floated the ball into the rival area for Rane who trapped the ball and coolly to beat Shivajians goalkeeper Subrata Paul with a neat placement to the right corner.
Two minutes later Mumbai FC found more success with the hard-working mid-fielder Brown scoring from a snap effort.
Steven Dias initiated the move with a clever back-heel to put Hitesh Sharma in the clear on the right flank. The latter advanced deep and sent in a low centre, the ball deflected off a defender and fell perfectly into the path of Brown smashed the ball on-the-run past Paul to double the lead.

Mumbai continued to dominate and made it 3-0 with another fine move that ended a brilliant effort by Sushil Kumar Singh.