Mumbai City FC were held to a 1-1 draw by Hyderabad FC in their Indian Super League 2023-24 match on Saturday. The Islanders were reduced to 10 players in the seventh minute after goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa was shown the red card in the 7th minute.
Hyderabad attacker Joe Knowles has been impressive throughout the season, and he was close to scoring the first goal of the evening when he beat Mumbai’s offside trap and got on the end of a through ball. Lachenpa rushed out of the box and brought down Knowles down with his feet.
Despite being a player down, Mumbai did not let Hyderabad profit from their numerical advantage. Midfielders began donning a more reserved role to ensure that Hyderabad and their skilful frontline was kept at bay.
At the same time, the likes of Bipin Singh and Greg Stewart continued their pursuit of the opening strike of the night. As the game entered its final 15 minutes, Stewart played a through ball to Singh whose shot was thwarted by Gurmeet Singh.
Hyderabad substitute Manoj Mohammed ended up being at the wrong spot though, with the ball rebounding off his feet to roll into the back of the net.
Mumbai City put on a spirited effort to keep Hyderabad FC from scoring. Yet, the numerical advantage that Hyderabad held over Mumbai helped them finally, with Knowles striking in home from a narrow angle that took the deflection of Tiri in the 96th minute of the game.