Indian Sports LIVE, March 2: Mumbai seal ISL playoff spot with thrilling 3-2 win over Punjab

Here at the ESPN daily blog, we bring you all the news from the dynamic world of Indian sports, from the wide variety of Olympic sports to franchise leagues.

March has plenty of sporting action taking place – which you can find listed out in ESPN India’s sporting calendar.

Here are the key events from Saturday, March 2.


Mumbai City defeat Punjab FC in thriller, cement playoff spot

Mumbai City won a thrilling contest away to Punjab FC by a 3-2 scoreline in a topsy-turvy contest, courtesy a brace from Iker Guarrotxena. The win takes Mumbai up to second in the league, level with leaders Odisha FC on 35 points. Punjab remain in the hunt for playoff spots, still in tenth place in the table but only three points behind sixth-placed Jamshedpur.

Mumbai opened the scoring early, with Lallianzuala Chhangte finding the net after pouncing on the rebound from Bipin Singh’s shot in the 16th minute. Punjab turned the game on its head in the space of two minutes, beginning with Madih Talal’s superb long-range strike from the left, followed by Wilmar Jordan heading home in the 39th minute from Talal’s cross.

Punjab’s 2-1 lead at the break evaporated twenty minutes into the second half. First Iker Guarrotxena waltzed through multiple defenders before a bit of pinball in the box ended with him slamming the ball home from a couple of yards out – making it 2-2 in the 53rd minute. The Spaniard completed his brace in the 64th minute and gave Mumbai the lead, running onto an excellent through ball from Jayesh Rane, before curling the ball into the net. Guarrotxena appeared to injure himself in the process, and eventually came off in the 82nd minute, with his condition appearing serious, putting a dampener on Mumbai’s joy.


What’s on today?

  • ISL: A big-ticket clash in store as Bengaluru FC host Kerala Blasters (kickoff at 7:30pm), while Punjab FC take on Mumbai City FC at 5pm.

  • PVL: Hyderabad Black Hawks face the Calicut Heroes at 6:30pm.


What happened yesterday?

  • Puneri Paltan defeated Haryana Steelers to win the Pro Kabaddi League title.

  • Mohun Bagan Supergiant beat Jamshedpur FC 3-0 in the ISL.

  • BWF German Open: Treesa-Gayatri lose in quarterfinals

  • Ahmedabad Defenders handed Mumbai Meteors a 3-2 loss in the PVL.

You can check all the details of yesterday’s news events here.



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