Mumbai hold Churchill goalless

Mumbai…0     Churchill…0

PANJIM, MAY 17
Mumbai FC moved out of the relegation zone after holding Musli Power Churchill Brothers to a dull goalless draw in an ONGC I-League match at Cooperage stadium on Monday.
The Goan giants were also reduced to ten men in injury time when skipper Odafa Okolie was sent off after receiving his second yellow card.
Mumbai started with Evans Quao upfront with Abhishek Yadav as coach Khalid Jamil opted for Basheeru Abbas on the bench. Churchill Brothers had Reisangmi Vashum and Jaison Valles on the wings while Warun Deep and Naoba Singh were the two full-backs.
Churchill got the first opportunity in the very second minute as Odafa spilled from a one-on-one situation as he lazed around before attempting a shot as Bernard Achaw tracked back to clear the danger.
Mumbai fans couldn’t believe their bad luck as a Peter Siddique header from a corner-kick in the sixth minute found the back of the net but the referee had blown his whistle for an infringement.
Odafa fluffed another opportunity as he did well to get ahead Anas Edathodika but Nidhinlal came off his line to deny the Nigerian who could only resort to a dive.
At the half hour mark, Kalu Nnanna’s shot from 30 yards landed at the feet of Reisangmi Vashum who sent it over the bar from inside the box.
Just before the end of first half, Abhishek Yadav missed with the goal at his mercy after Arindam Bhattacharya was out of place in order to deny Evans Quao’s header.
In the second half, play was pretty much the same as neither side had the upper hand in the proceedings. 
The two coaches changed their personnel in order to add some pace to the game with Lalrinfela and Alex Ambrose making their way in.
Basheeru Abbas had a shy on goal while Felix Chimaokwu’s shot was well blocked by Nidhinlal to ensure that the scoreline remained intact.
Referee Shaji Kurian was at the centre of action when he stopped play when Churchill Brothers were almost through on goal with Anas being on ground while allowing Mumbai to attack moments back. Skipper Odafa led the protest against the referee with the Churchill officials joining in.
Nidhinlal was the hero for Mumbai as he stopped a fierce right footed shot from Naoba Singh with the home side’s midfielders being guilty, allowing the full-back a lot of space.
In injury time, Odafa picked up his second yellow card and was thus given marching orders by the referee.
With this point, Mumbai move out of the drop zone as they have a better goal difference than Shillong Lajong.
Meanwhile Churchill remain second but now have a one point lead over third placed Mahindra, having played two games less.