Deshorn Brown hat-trick helps NorthEast United salvage a point against Mumbai City
A spectacular display from Jamaican striker Deshorn Brown helped NorthEast United salvage a point against the high flying Mumbai City in a 3-3 thriller in ‘Match 42’ of the 2021-22 Indian Super League season on Monday.
Brown scored a hat-trick for the Highlanders while Igor Angulo scored a brace and Bipin Singh netted the other goal for the Islanders.
Mumbai City coach Des Buckingham was forced to make a few changes as Mehtab Singh replaced the Senegalese central defender Mourtada fall while Ygor Catatau played on the right flank in place of Vikram Pratap Singh. For the Highlanders, star striker Brown returned to the starting lineup after a brief spell on the sidelines due to an injury while Pragyan Gogoi and Sehnaj Singh also made their way to the starting lineup.
The defending champions were very quick off the blocks and they had a glorious opportunity in the second minute itself when Catatau got his head on the end of a fantastic Ahmed Jahouh cross but the NorthEast United goalkeeper Mirshad Michu made an excellent point-blank save.
The reigning champions mounted the pressure with Cassinho and Angulo pulling the strings in the final third. However, Northeast United broke the deadlock in the 19th minute against the flow of the game when Imran Khan picked out Brown on the counter and the Jamaican was calm enough to slot it past Mohammad Nawaz.
Mumbai City took only four minutes to retaliate as Bipin did well to beat his marker and drill in a scrumptious cross for Angulo who was never in doubt to miss from such a close range. Hardly seven minutes later, last season’s Golden Boot winner returned the favour when he beat Patrick Flottmann with his pace and trickery and put in a dangerous ball for Singh whose shot was made a mess of by Michu handing Mumbai the lead.
Bipin Singh had a good day at the office for the Islanders
Khalid Jamil’s men started the second half with renewed zeal and passion as Hernan Santana almost restored parity in the 48th minute but his shot was saved by Nawaz. It proved to be a defining save as only four minutes later, Buckingham’s team doubled their lead when Catatau’s low cross was easily slotted in by Angulo exposing a clueless Northeast United defense for the third time in the evening.
The game was packed with action as Angulo had hardly stopped celebrating when Brown had the ball in the back of the net at the other end. The Caribbean Cup-winning striker lost his marker with his sheer power before thumping in a shot to the back of the net.
Buckingham tried to inject fresh legs by introducing Raynier Fernandes and Vignesh Dakshinamurthy. The first substitution almost worked instantly as Raynier found Cassinho unmarked in the penalty area but the Brazilian’s header was wayward.
Mumbai paid the price of that costly miss when the Highlanders came up with the equalizer in the 80th minute. Nawaz failed to clear off a cross from the right flank and the ball eventually landed at the feet of Imran whose shot was well off-target but Brown showed the presence of mind to stick a leg out and deflect the ball into the net.
NorthEast United should have taken all three points home as Brown once again showed his skills to set up a great pass for Mathias Coureur in additional time. The Martiniquais forward was through on goal and struck his shot straight at Nawaz failing to score a goal for the eighth consecutive match after scoring on his ISL debut.
The Highlanders remain in ninth place and will take on an in-form Jamshedpur side on 6th January while the league leaders Mumbai City will lock horns with Odisha on 3rd January.