Pailan Arrows started in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Alwyn George playing behind Holicharan Hazary upfront while Mumbai FC, took in the same setup, had ND Opara as the lone striker with Haroon Fakhruddin supporting him.

The two teams took time to settle into the game as neither took initiative to attack. They were happy to just play the ball around with no incisiveness.

The first real chance in the 23^rd minute as Prabir Das’s through-ball for Holicharan Nazary saw the latter go one-on-one with the Mumbai FC goalkeeper Sanjiban Ghosh who did well to avert the danger.

The very next minute Rajinder Kumar’s cross from the right saw Alwyn George almost get to the end o it but an alert Ghosh put his body on the line to keep the scores level.

Holiacharan scored the opening goal of the match in the 34^th minute when Sanjiban Ghosh spilled the ball from an Avinabo Baig shot.

The equalizer came just five minutes later as goalkeeper Ravi Kumar went a step further ahead of Ghosh and committed a horrible error. From a back-pass, Kumar took time to clear and when Fakhruddin closed him down, the custodian sent the ball straight to the feet for Opara who did the needful.

Just a minute before the half-time whistle, James Singh put his side ahead with his a powerful shot from 25 yards which sailed into the back of the net. Ravi Kumar’s dive was nowhere close to the ball and the Pailan technical staff would have every right to question the custodian over the goals at half-time.

Nine minutes into the second half and Pranoy Halder went down inside the box as Justin Stephen appeared to have nudged the player. The referee pointed towards the spot in what was a harsh penalty given that Halder had made a meal of it. Milan Singh did the needful as he coolly converted from the spot.

The winner came in the 76^th minute as Sanjiban Ghosh gave the ball to the feet of Holicharan Nazary who placed the ball into the far post in what was an abject display of poor goalkeeping.

The scoreline remained the same until the end though Mumbai FC had a couple of chances towards the end.

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