Mumbai City play out thrilling draw against Thai side Chiangmai FC in pre-season friendly

Bipin Singh scored both the goals for the Islanders.

Mumbai City FC kicked off their 2018 pre-season campaign for the upcoming Indian Super League on a positive note, eking out a smart 2-2 draw against Chiangmai FC here on Sunday night.

The Islanders’ new recruit Bipin Singh scored both the goals against the tier two team in the Thai League, bringing pace and sharpness to the side’s attack.

Mumbai City’s new Portuguese coach, Jorge Costa, who had promised to make the team much more vibrant and entertaining, gave a display of what is to come in his first outing itself.

He marshalled his resources cleverly, assessing them in the first half by unleashing his brand of aggressive football. He opened up the game further in the second half which saw Chiangmai FC’s Pichai draw first blood in the 61st minute, with a well executed corner. 

The Islanders responded swiftly, with young Pranjal presenting a perfect cross from the left for Bipin to capitalise on and make it 1-1 in the 76th minute mark.

Chiangmai were relentless, though, and goalie Amrinder Singh and left back Shouvik Ghosh had to be at their best to thwart the attacks.

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Mumbai City, however, got lucky first, with the Chiangmai custodian fumbling in the 84th minute and allowing the ball to trickle into the goal. It was a powerful 30-yard strike from Bipin but it could easily have been stopped.

Bipin created another opportunity a few minutes later but his effort just missed the post, denying him a hat-trick in his first game for his new team.

Sadly for MCFC, Seo Dong Hyeon found the back of the net in stoppage time, to end the contest 2-2. 

The Islanders will be happy with the game though, trying out a number of players and experimenting with some of their positions.