It took the Colts the red lead in seven minutes, Surdas Meitei found Sanan Mohammed with a graceful pass to cross for Himbahadur, who had driven home from close.
Mumbai were guilty of not pulling the trigger in time, Aman CK shot the keeper straight from a good angle. But it was the RF Young champs, with an average age of 17, who put the Mumbai defenders on tenterhooks, with Uttam Sanon making an effort over the crossbar before halftime.
Just before the break, the RF Young Champs doubled their lead. Meiti got on the receiving end of a great move to find Rashid with a clever cut, which should have been tackled by Mumbai’s Kevin D’Souza. Rashid scored 2-0 for the first time.
Chances were few and far between in the second period as Arata’s charges showed the courage to hold on to their lead and seal the deal.
Earlier in the day, Kerala Blasters FC registered three wins in three matches with a 1-0 win over Chennaiyin FC. Vinci Barreto scored his second goal of the campaign in the 86th minute.
For Chennaiyin, goalkeeper Devansh Dabas did a brilliant job under the bar in the 72nd minute to save a penalty from Givson Singh.
With both teams taking time to get into the groove, Kerala created more chances than their counterparts, who were looking solid from behind. The boys in yellow were particularly threatening at the counter, with Nihal Sudesh and Sanjeev Stalin getting on well. Chennaiyin bottled up Barreto in the opening exchanges, the skilful forward did not find much joy from the left before Sudish found him with a clean cross inside the box, which Barreto struck over the bar near the half-hour mark. kept.
Captain Ayush Adhikari made the best of the half, his effort from 25 yards from the crossbar. It was the start of some sustained Kerala pressure, forcing Dabas to put up a decent defense after Stalin cut Dabas to the right. Just before the halftime whistle, Givson fired on the bar.
Chennaiyin were as firm at the back as in the first half after the break in front of a flurry of attacks from Kerala, which resulted in Mohammed Amen being trapped inside the box by Dabas, who made amends with a good reflex to save Givson from the spot . , Dabas put up another fine defense from Sudish before his wall was eventually broken by Barreto, who saw that his effort was kept at bay by the also brilliant Dabas. A good move from Bejoy Varghese ended with an unsuccessful clearance from Anish V, the ball falling to Barreto, who cut the keeper and drilled it into the away post. In the end, their goal proved to be the difference as Kerala continued with their dream.