NorthEast United FC entered the top four in the 2020-21 Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) standings after a 2-1 win over Mumbai City FC at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Saturday.

Deshorn Brown scored twice in quick succession in the first half and Adam le Fondre came off the bench to score once for the Islanders in the second.

The Highlanders put Mumbai City on the back foot early on by taking the lead in the 6th minute. After Amrinder Singh had initially parried away Luis Machado’s shot from distance, Nim Dorjee whipped in an enticing cross from the right towards the far post where Brown arrived and executed a thunderous volley to open the scoring.

The Jamaican doubled NorthEast’s lead three minutes later when a corner made its way to Machado in the box and ricocheted off his knee before going to Brown, who blasted the ball into the net. He could have scored his hat-trick in the 19th minute had he kept his effort off a brilliant cross from the left by Provat Lakra on target.

Mumbai City expectedly dominated the ball but weren’t creating any clear-cut chances as NorthEast looked comfortable with their two-goal advantage. The Islanders had to wait till the 41st minute for their first shot on target courtesy of an Ahmed Jahouh attempt from distance. Goalkeeper Subhasish Roy though was up to the task, denying the Moroccan, and Jackichand Singh’s attempt on the rebound was also blocked as NorthEast took a 2-0 lead into the break.

NorthEast began the second half positively and Lalengmawia tested Amrinder with a shot from range within 30 seconds of the restart. Like in the first half, Mumbai City soon settled and dominated possession as the half wore on but carving the Highlanders open was proving to be problematic for Sergio Lobera’s men.

Jahouh forced Subhasish into making a save in the 69th minute but once again it was an effort from distance as the Islanders’ struggles in the final third continued. The Islanders upped the ante towards the final 15 minutes of the match and finally pulled one back in the 85th minute through substitute le Fondre.

Bartholomew Ogbeche looked to control Hugo Boumous’ cross from the left and set himself up for a volley by flicking the ball over a defender’s head. However, it was le Fondre that was positioned perfectly to make the most of Ogbeche’s touch and adjusted his body well to execute an improvised finish into the back of the net.

He could have levelled the score a few minutes later but failed to keep his header off a cross from the right on target. Mehtab Singh also came close to levelling the score in second half stoppage time, however, Subhasish got his hand up in time to thwart the Mumbai City substitute’s header from close range and help the Highlanders over the line for a second win against the Islanders this season.