Bengaluru FC 0
lost to
Mumbai City FC 2 (Lallianzuala Chhangte 8’, Nikolaos Karelis 37’ p) 

BENGALURU: Two first-half goals secured Mumbai City FC an Indian Super League 2024-25 playoff spot as they beat Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Tuesday, March 12, 2025. The Islanders thus finished the league season at the sixth spot with 36 points, whereas the Gerard Zaragoza-coached side ended their league campaign with 38 points, on fourth.

Captain Lallianzuala Chhangte (8’) gave Mumbai City the early lead, while Nikolaos Karelis (37’) converted a penalty toward the end of the first half to earn them the three points.

The visitors threw bodies forward, with Nikolaos Karelis heading just past the post from the six-yard box. However, Mumbai City took the lead when Karelis found Chhangte with a slick pass in the penalty area, which the captain slotted from very close range into the net in the eighth minute with his right foot.

Bengaluru FC tried to execute a different strategy to equalise. Ryan Williams and Vinith Venkatesh pulled off shots from outside the box around the 28th-minute mark, but the Islanders regathered their shape to block those efforts in time.

Karelis showed impressive awareness to earn a penalty with his fleet footedness and stepped up to convert the spot-kick with a strike into the bottom right corner in the 37th minute to double the advantage.

Sunil Chhetri undertook the responsibility to claw the Blues back into the encounter, barging into the Mumbai City FC box and laying up a headed pass for Edgar Mendez, which was struck slightly past the right post in the 67th minute.

Chhangte kept hitting back, donning a free-flowing role wherein he was both the creator of chances and assumed the responsibility to try and hammer in those opportunities.

With around 10 minutes of regulation time left, he trusted Vikram Partap Singh to try his luck from distance, but the attacker’s shot at the top right corner was saved. Despite a frantic end, Mumbai City held on to the win, and sealed their spot in the playoffs.