Balwant seals dramatic Mumbai win against 10-men Goa in seesaw

The game came to life in the second half that saw a red card and four goals.

A late strike by Balwant Singh gave Mumbai City FC an exciting 4-3 win over FC Goa in the Indian Super League encounter at Fatorda Stadium on Sunday. In a see-saw battle, the Hoshiarpur-born Mumbai striker finally pulled the plug on Goa to keep his side’s hope of making it to the last four alive.

Ferran Corominas gave FC Goa the lead at the half hour mark after getting past Mumbai City FC defenders with some neat footwork. The Spaniard laid the ball for  Mandar Rao to have a strike on goal, but his effort was saved by Amrinder Singh, and Coro found himself in the right place to tap in the rebound.

Watch: FC Goa 3-4 Mumbai City highlights

The home side's lead, however, didn't last long. Barely a minute later Everton Santos helped Mumbai drew parity. Thiago Santos got a shot away from the edge of the box and it took a deflection of Everton before making its way into the goal.

With half-time approaching both teams looked destined to head back to the dressing room on level terms. But a horrible mix up between Sanju Pradhan and Amrinder Singh gave Manuel Lanzarote an easy opportunity to give FC Goa the lead for the second time. 

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In the second half, the home side were dealt a heavy blow early on after Seriton Fernandes was shown a second yellow for a pull back on Everton Santos. Goa were reduced to 10-man and Lobera quickly made a change to his team formation. Things got worse for the home side 10 minutes later when the referee pointed to the spot after Mohamed Ali brought down Everton down inside the box with a late sliding tackle. Achille Emana calmly slotted the ball home to bring Mumbai back into the game.

It was then Thiago Santos’ turn to give Mumbai the lead for the first time in the game with 20 minutes left on the cloak after FC Goa goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani palmed a strike by Balwant Singh into his path. 

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the home side however didn't lie down and equalised in 78th minute through Coro. Ahmed Jahouh's pass put Coro on goal and he chipped past the goalkeeper for his 12th goal of the season.

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It looked like the home side had done enough to at least a share of the points but there was another twist in the tale. In the 87th minutes, Everton Santos shot was partially saved by Kattamani when Balwant Singh found himself at the right place and at the right time to hand Mumbai the winner.