Mumbai City FC returned to the top of the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21  standings after a 2-0 win over Kerala Blasters FC at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on January 2, 2021.

Adam le Fondre gave the Islanders the lead from the penalty spot early on and Hugo Boumous netted their second of the night in the 11th minute before missing a penalty in the second half.

Adam le Fondre scored from the spot in the 3rd minute and Hugo Boumous netted shortly after to give Mumbai a 2-0 advantage at the break.

Kerala fought hard in the second half but couldn’t breach Mumbai’s defence, reported indiansuperleague.com.

It took Mumbai just three minutes to take the lead after a stray back pass by Kerala led to Costa Nhamoinesu fouling Boumous in the box and conceding a penalty.

Le Fondre obligingly stepped up to the spot and struck the penalty straight down the middle to give the Islanders an early lead.

Mumbai then doubled their lead in 11th minute after a freekick from deep in his own half by Ahmed Jahouh found Boumous, who was through on goal and made no mistake with an unerring finish across Kerala’s goalkeeper.

They could have made it three just six minutes later when Boumous put Mandar Rao Dessai through on goal after some brilliant build-up play by Mumbai.

Dessai’s shot though failed to test the goalkeeper and flew over the crossbar.

Kerala registered their first shot of the game on target in the 28th minute when a Vicente Gomez effort from just outside the box forced Mumbai’s goalkeeper Amrinder Singh into a save.

They had another opportunity to score just after the half-hour mark when Sahal Abdul Samad pressured Mumbai’s defence and weaved his way past a few of their players to draw another save from Amrinder.

The Blasters’ best opportunity of pulling one back in the first half came in the 42nd minute when a long throw into the box was flicked on to Lalthathanga Khawlhring, who couldn’t quite apply the finishing touch.

Mumbai goalkeeper Amrinder Singh had a busy night in and played a big role in helping his team win.

He had to work hard for his clean sheet and proved to be a source of frustration for Kerala’s attackers throughout the game.

Amrinder faced plenty of shots, made four saves and answered his team’s call whenever required.