Mumbai City decimate Odisha 6-1 to set up exciting League Shield clash against Bagan

Bambolim: Bipin Singh on Wednesday scored the first hat-trick of the season as a dominant Mumbai City FC thrashed Odisha FC 6-1 in their penultimate Indian Super League match here, to set up a clash against ATK Mohun Bagan for a berth in the prestigious AFC Champions League (ACL).

The equation for the ISL League Winners Shield is clear. A win for Mumbai City in their final league game against ATK Mohun Bagan on Sunday will hand them the Shield as well as a spot in next season's ACL group stage. Anything else than that, it will be ATKMB celebrating.

After Odisha had taken a shock early lead through Diego Mauricio (9th minute), Mumbai hit back hard through goals from Bartholomew Ogbeche (14th, 43rd), Bipin Singh (38th, 47th, 86th) and Cy Goddard (44th).

It was the highest-scoring game of the season and Mumbai had the biggest-winning margin yet. The timely return to form ended a three-game winless run for Sergio Lobera's side.

Yet, when the match started, it appeared as if Mumbai would continue their wretched form. Early on, Odisha were awarded a penalty when Ahmed Jahouh fouled Mauricio in the box. The latter stepped up and ensured that Odisha had an unlikely lead, despite Amrinder getting a hand to the ball.

But Mumbai weren't behind for long. Just five minutes later, Jahouh made amends for his mistake by finding Ogbeche off a freekick. The Nigerian made no mistake, heading it in to restore parity. Odisha put up quite a fight over the next 20 minutes as Mumbai struggled to convert their dominance into clear-cut chances. But once the goal came, the floodgates opened.