The star-studded Mumbai City FC find themselves staring at the prospect of finishing outside the top four again after a 2-0 loss to NorthEast United at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati.

With both teams requiring a win after a bad run, Mumbai were perhaps a trifle unlucky, conceding from the penalty spot in the 41st minute with Bruno Arias making no mistake. Replays though showed that contact had been minimal. Mumbai came out all guns blazing in the second half, but NorthEast keeper Rehenesh was in fine form, keeping his team in the hunt. At the other end, Subrata Pal was pulling off a similar job for Mumbai.

After another fantastic save from Rehenesh in the 80th minute, NorthEast sealed the game with a delightful tap-in from Kamara. They might have even got another in injury time with Velez slotting it in, but the referee ruled it offside.