Just five days after tickets went on sale though, Neymar injured himself during Brazil’s 2-0 loss against Uruguay in Montevideo last month. Having to undergo surgery on his ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus in his left knee, he was ruled out of the tie. Needless to say, the fans who booked tickets were devastated with many even trying to resell their ticket, even on matchday.
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Buckingham’s response to the question was that while he couldn’t control who the crowd supported, he wished that having booked the tickets, they would come to watch the match and be impressed by the way his side played. “Hope to convert fans,” is what he said.
And he would be impressed by the way his team played. Having lost the away fixture to Al-Hilal 6-0 last month, his team displayed some resolute defending for the first 60 minutes. But after going a man down courtesy of a second yellow for a needless tackle by defender Mehtab Singh in the 54th minute, Buckingham’s team lost the plot to suffer a rather narrow 2-0 defeat.
Fans didn’t really care that Neymar wasn’t there though. Mumbai City FC supporters were easily outnumbered by those deep blue Al-Hilal jerseys bearing the name of Neymar. Be it the unmistakable yellow of Brazil, the blue and red of Barcelona, or the PSG jersey, Neymar seemed to be everywhere.
Al-Hilal may rely on their star signing for fan support anywhere they may play in the world, but on the pitch, it’s the towering Aleksandar Mitrovic they turn to. The former Fulham and Newcastle striker, who scored a stunning hat-trick when Al-Hilal hosted Mumbai, was kept quiet by the Mumbai defence till he managed to have a first shot on goal only in the 64th minute when Al-Hilal had just taken the lead. But once he got a taste of the Mumbai goal, he transformed into the menacing striker he is known to be.
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Mumbai, who were played with great organisation, didn’t look flustered by the occasion. They passed the ball around confidently, even setting up a number of goal-scoring opportunities, especially early on in the match. They had a wonderful opportunity to take the lead right in the fourth minute when Jorge Pereyra Diaz outjumped former Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly to steal the ball and make a run on goal as early as the fourth minute. He had just the goalkeeper to beat, but took a few seconds too long, which was enough for Koulibaly to recover and make a goal-saving tackle to send the ball for a corner.
Being goalless at halftime, Buckingham would’ve told his boys that they could manage a point or even three if they could hold on as well as they were doing. Any hopes of that though faded when they were reduced to 10 men in the 54th minute when Mehtab’s late challenge on Ruben Neves saw him receive a second yellow. The Mumbai defender had received his first yellow in the 35th minute for a tussle with Mitrovic.
Just eight minutes after that red card, the visitors opened scoring after a wonderful floating ball by Mohammed Alburayk found Michael Delgado completely unmarked in the box. Akash Mishra just couldn’t do anything to stop Delgado from heading the ball into the back of the net.
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With a goal and a man up, there would be no stopping Al-Hilal and Mumbai were in for a nervy half an hour. The crowd wanted their money’s worth and egged on Mitrovic and Co to reproduce some of the magic they showed at home.
The Serbian finally got on the scoresheet in the 85th minute, courtesy of a brilliant move by Brazilian Malcolm.
The midfielder danced around Mumbai’s box to float it for Mitrovic who drifted off to the far post area, calmly heading the ball into the bottom corner to double his team’s lead.
By then, Mumbai had all but given up. They now have four losses in as many games and their hopes of advancing from the group stage are all but over.
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Despite their loss though, Buckingham remained optimistic. It’s the first time 30,000 came to watch his team play at home, and he says that even if half of the supporters would want to come to watch their Indian Super League (ISL) games after watching this match, he would take it as a victory.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
