Mumbai City FC defeat the Blasters 1-0 to barge into the Super Cup semi-finals in style

Freddy’s late own goal seals the deal for the Islanders

Mumbai City FC clinched a nail-biting 1-0 victory against Kerala Blasters FC in the final do-or-die match of Group D. With this win, the Islanders have sealed a slot in the semi-finals of the Super Cup 2025.

After an exciting first half filled with numerous attacking initiatives, both sides failed to break the deadlock. Just as the referee was about to blow the whistle for the break, Sandeep Singh made a careless foul in the right, pulling down Vikram Partap Singh, which gave him the second yellow card of the match, putting Blasters in a one-man deficit.

In the second half, despite the aggressive attacks by Mumbai City to find the opener, the Tuskers remained resilient and defensively solid. However, in the 89th minute, confusion between Nora, Saheef and Freddy led to an own goal, which provided the vital lead for Mumbai City FC to cruise into the Super Cup 2025-26 knockouts.

Kerala Blasters reduced to 10 men

In the initial minute, Kerala Blasters were on the front foot as they did well to break the Islanders’ defensive unit and craft some good attacks in the final third. The Tuskers’ best chance came off Tiago Alves, who missed the goal by inches after making an accelerated run with the precisely tailored through ball given by Adrian Luna.

Twenty minutes into the game, Mumbai slowly started getting brighter, pressing high and controlling possession with quick exchanges. Both teams were dominating in the midfield and disrupted the flow with some quick counterattacks during multiple instances. Mumbai’s best chance came off Ortiz, as the skipper made a good run and took a shot from distance, which Nora had to stretch to the right to save.

In the very last second of the game, Sandeep slipped on the right flank and pulled the jersey of Vikram Partap out of desperation to be booked by the referee for the second time, leading to a red card and a send-off, reducing the Blasters to ten men at the stroke of half-time.

Mumbai City cruise to the semi-finals

In the second half, Mumbai City FC went all-out attack, but the 10-man Blasters crowded in their defensive third and created an impenetrable defensive unit that the Mumbai City players struggled to break past. For the vast majority of the second half, the Tuskers remained resilient despite being one man down.

When the Islanders struggled to create open play, they started attempting shots from distance, which were excellently saved by Nora. On the other hand, Blasters made some cameo attacks, which did not create much trouble for Mumbai.

In the dying minutes of the game, Jorge Preyra Diaz whipped in a lofted ball into the 6-yard box, which created confusion in the backline among the keeper and the defenders and after a touch from Freedy, went straight into the back of the net, to break the deadlock and provide Mumbai City FC with the win, taking them to the semi-finals of the Super Cup on head-to-head criteria.

Who will Mumbai City FC face in the Semi-Finals of the Super Cup?

Mumbai City FC have topped the Group D table with six points and will face the Group B winners FC Goa for the Semi-Final clash of the Super Cup on December 4th 2025.

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