Wasteful Mumbai City, Al-Jazira play out a 0-0 stalemate

Mumbai City played out a goalless stalemate against the United Arab Emirates champions Al-Jazira on Monday in their fourth 2021/22 AFC Champions League fixture. Both teams had adequate opportunities to score but were not clinical enough to do so.

Des Buckingham made four changes to the Mumbai City starting XI that lost 1-0 against the same opponent in their previous fixture. Phurba Lachenpa, Mehtab Singh and Mandar Rao Dessai were all reintegrated into the team at the expense of Mohammad Nawaz, Amey Ranawade and Vignesh Dakshinamurthy respectively. Besides that, Brad Inman had to make way for Vinit Rai.

On the other hand, Marcel Keizer made a couple of changes to his team – both in the defensive contingent. Central defender Mohammed Al Attas was replaced by youngster Nawaf Dhawi, while in the left-back position, Abdullah Idrees made way for another young prodigy in Mohamad Al-Yammahi.

The last match’s goal-scorer Ali Mabkhout had the first chance of the game in the 5^th minute, but his shot was saved by Phurba. The Islanders too got a sniff of the goal five minutes later when Apuia Ralte got his head to an Ahmed Jahouh corner, but the youngster could not keep his header on target.

The next phase of the game was predominantly played out in the midfield region with not many clear-cut openings. Al-Jazira’s Brazilian midfielder Bruno had a crack at the goal in the 24^th minute but his shot was off-target. While this effort did not look threatening, Bruno almost got his name on the scoresheet six minutes later, but Phurba denied him the glory.

Al Ankabout ended the first half with a flurry of opportunities. Mabkhout first tested the Islanders’ custodian in the 43^rd minute with a right-footed shot, then Bruno too went for glory in the next minute and just seconds before the lemon break, Abdoulaye Diaby tried his luck as well. However, the attempts were either not on target, or if they were, Phurba came to Mumbai City’s rescue.

The first portion of the second half was once again cagey with both sides failing to show quality in the final third. Jahouh pulled the trigger from a long way out in the 67^th minute but could not trouble Al-Jazira’s goal-keeper Ali Khasif with his shot. Bruno then had another go at glory, but it seemed that he had left his goal-scoring boots in the locker room.

Mumbai City’s best opportunity fell to Diego Mauricio

The first big opportunity of the second half came only in the 80^th minute when Mohamed Jamal found Abdalla Ramadan unmarked inside the box with a pass, but the Emirati midfielder’s shot was saved by Phurba.

Six minutes later, substitute Inman played a delightful through ball for the Islanders’ striker Diego Mauricio, but all the Brazilian could do was force Khasif into making a save. Zayed Al Amiri then tried testing Phurba with a long-range effort but yet again, the Sikkimese goalkeeper passed the test with flying colours. The last opportunity of the game fell to Buckingham’s team as Jahouh found Mauricio with a cross, but the elusive goal never arrived in this fixture.

Mumbai City will now take on the strongest team from their group, Al-Shabab, on Tuesday, while on the same day, Al-Jazira will cross paths with Iraqi outfit Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya.