Mumbai FC's penultimate game of the 2017 I-League season, against Shillong Lajong, began on the perfect note, with their top scorer Victorino Fernandes putting them ahead in the 2nd minute.
Mumbai then dominated but were helpless late on when Lajong's Yuta Kinowaki directed a sublime half-volley from outside the box into the far corner of the net. It could have been worse seconds later, but Samuel Shadap headed wide from a cross. In many ways, this match and its outcome summed up Mumbai's season - bright football, but not good enough - that sees them relegated from the I-League for the first time since promotion in 2008-09.
They will also miss out on participating in the eight-team Federation Cup in May, another dubious first for Mumbai since they entered the big league. There wasn't much different from previous seasons for a club used to operating on one of the I-League's lowest budgets, as the approximate Rs 2.5 crores (less than $ 400,000) they spend annually is about a fourth of some of the bigger clubs in the league. Yet, there were some reasons on and off the pitch for a campaign that began with successive wins to end in misery.
First, the back story
In the top division, Mumbai would be dangerous floaters and finished mid-table most seasons. The core of their operations was the duo of manager Henry Picardo and coach Khalid Jamil, who forged a team with one of the lowest operating budgets in the league. Their USP was the ability to spot young talent - including defender Ashutosh Mehta and forward Jayesh Rane, who along with Jamil are part of Aizawl FC's success story.
2017 - the pre-season
Jamil quit at the end of last season, when Mumbai finished fifth, and was replaced by Santosh Kashyap, a familiar face in Indian football circles. Kashyap's team had no registered foreigner for the first two rounds, but they had experienced players like goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani, former India international and winger Steven Dias, defender Reagan Singh, and players such as Thoi Singh, Pratesh Shirodkar and Siam Hanghal in midfield. The attacking line looked thin, with Goan Victorino Fernandes the only recognised forward alongside former Bengaluru FC attacker Karan Sawhney and Under-22 player Farukh Choudhary.
The start
Mumbai began winning 1-0 at home against DSK Shivajians and 2-1 away to Churchill Brothers. The third match, away to champions Bengaluru FC, saw them lose for the first time, beaten by a CK Vineeth hat-trick, though Dias felt the team's confidence wasn't affected by the loss.
"They are a good side and they have been fielding the same core of the side for some time. We didn't beat ourselves up over losing to a good side like theirs," Dias had said. "When we walked back to the change rooms, we just thought acche team se haara (we lost to a superior team)."
The losing streak
Following that defeat, Mumbai FC would lose five on the bounce, including the next match against their former coach Khalid Jamil's Aizawl FC. "We played well but just couldn't get the result we wanted," Dias would say.
The inexperienced attack was unable to make the most of Kashyap's strategy of employing short passes and pace along the flanks. One of the first foreign players signed was Trinidad & Tobago World Cupper Densill Theobald, but at 34 he was less influential this season than when he was with Kashyap's former club Royal Wahingdoh.
Mumbai had four successive away matches after Aizawl, and lost all four. They scored in three of those games, and even took the lead before losing 2-1 to Chennai City. Brazilian imports Anderson, Alex and Robinho, who all played bit parts in this period, were not natural strikers, and Afghan defender Djelaludin Sherityar took some time to gel with the rest of the defence.
Reports of a rift
It was around this time that reports of a rift between players and the coach began coming out, though Dias says the fault was a collective one. "I don't think one can blame the coach alone when a team performs as badly as we did. Maybe we couldn't understand what he [Kashyap] was trying to say, and maybe he couldn't understand our problems.
"When the blame games begin in the change room, then it can affect the rhythm of the players. When a team performs well -- like I saw at my time in Mahindra United -- then you can see that gelling on and off the field. Somehow, this season that kind of atmosphere just could not be created."
Stability, but too late
Mumbai showed grit in the games that followed, starting with a goalless home draw against favourites Mohun Bagan in mid-February. They only lost two of their remaining eight matches, but crucially didn't win any of them; away to Bagan on March 8, they led 2-1 for almost an hour in the game, before letting in a last-gasp Balwant Singh equaliser.
The poor run of form led to Kashyap leaving Mumbai, after which Spaniard Oscar Bruzon was brought in. Mathematically though, Mumbai were way below where they needed to be to launch a charge for safety.
What next for Mumbai?
Mumbai's relegation means there is a chance that for the first time there's no team from the city in the I-League, or its predecessor the National Football League - at least one of Air India, Mahindra United and Mumbai FC have featured in all editions.
"I want to speak to the owners and make sure that Mumbai football doesn't die," says Dias, who played with distinction for Air India and Mahindra United before his latest stint at Mumbai FC.
"Our city has many talented footballers, and whatever happens with AIFF's plans, I hope the management will ensure that the team stays together and doesn't get disbanded like Mahindra United did. I can promise we will come back strong, and I want to convey that to the owners."