Prince Ibara celebrates after scoring against Mumbai City FC.
Former champions Bengaluru FC thrashed Mumbai City FC 3-0 in the Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament, scoring three goals in the first half on Monday.
The defending champions has suffered their third defeat in five matches.
Danish Farooq opened the scoring for Bengaluru FC just in the eighth minute. The 25-year-old midfielder hit a ferocious shot from the edge of the box off a Cleiton Silva pass.
Then Prince Ibara doubled the Blues' lead as he scored a pinpoint header in the 23rd minute. Bengaluru FC continued dominating possession as Ibara came close to scoring at the 35th-minute mark, but Islanders Keeper Phurba Lachenpa made a scrambling save. The Mumbai defence couldn't contain Ibara as he scored his second goal in the match in 45+4 minutes.
Roshan Singh Naorem, the 22-year-old defender from Bengaluru FC, has been impressive as he has recorded five assists in nine matches with one goal. Naorem assisted Prince Ibara on both his goals against Mumbai City FC.
In the post-match press conference, Mumbai City head coach Des Buckingham discussed the team's issues in the 3-0 defeat against Bengaluru FC. He said, "We tried to keep Angulo as fresh as we can. He just played a game two days ago. Also, Catatau has played well whenever he has come on. It did not work for us, but we had too much to do after the first half. We have to keep addressing the problems and hope we have a good match against Kerala (Blasters FC)."
Mumbai City's Bradden Inman also threw light on the team's performance, especially in the first half. He said, "A lot of things went wrong. The first 45 was not good enough. We have to regroup. We have a match in six days. We just have to move on. Tomorrow, we will watch the goals and get back on training. We have a big game coming on."
Bengaluru FC head coach Marco Pezzaiuoli talked about the team's performance against Mumbai City FC. He said, "First of all, a compliment on the team, very good work. I think we deserved to score some more goals, especially in the first half. We had a lot of chance before the half time to go with four or five goals in front. The clean sheet was also nice."
He also talked about the team's next match against ATK Mohan Bagan. He said, "The important part is you have the next game, against ATK Mohun Bagan, a difficult game, the same high pressing team. They have a new coach, new style and I think let's enjoy tonight, recover good and face the next game. They are strong, but I don't think about the future. The next game is an important game.
