Mumbai City FC recorded a historic victory against Iraqi champions Al-Quwa Al-Jawia (Airforce Club) 2-1 in a 2022 AFC Champions League Group B clash in Riyadh.
Both teams held their ground in the first half, with the Airforce club looking like the more attacking of the two sides.
The Islanders calmed the storm for the first 14 minutes of the second half before Hammadi Ahmad gave the Iraqi club the lead just before the hour mark.
Mumbai City recovered with a 70th-minute penalty converted by Diego Mauricio, followed by the Indian centre-back on the night of Rahul Bheke’s incredible goal five minutes later.
With this victory, the Islanders became the first Indian club to win an AFC Champions League match.
All the major social handles of Indian football, as well as fans on Twitter, congratulated Mumbai City FC on this stellar achievement.
This is how they reacted:
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A historic night in Riyadh for #Icelanders As we became the first Indian team to win an AFC Champions League match! ?#AFCvMUM #asianislanders #ACL2022 #AamchiCity ? pic.twitter.com/d09aBF9G9o
— Mumbai City FC (@MumbaiCityFC) April 11, 2022
Congratulations on this historic achievement, @MumbaiCityFC ?
— Indian Premier League (@PLforIndia) April 11, 2022
??’?? ???? ??????? ????????? ??#AFCvMUM #asianislanders #ACL2022 #AamchiCity ? pic.twitter.com/dQtTiA4HBp
— Mumbai City FC (@MumbaiCityFC) April 11, 2022
Make a reverence, @MumbaiCityFC ?
Have you made us proud? Onward and up from here!#AFCvMUM #asianislanders #ACL2022 https://t.co/NwULlacJPC
— Indian football team (@IndianFootball) April 11, 2022
FULL TIME | #AFCvMUM @MumbaiCityFC story script by becoming the first ?? club to record a victory in @LaAFCCL! ?#asianislanders #ACL2022 pic.twitter.com/i1lgv243Fx
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) April 11, 2022
?FT | ?? Air Force Club 1️⃣- 2️⃣ Mumbai City FC ??
HISTORICAL. The islanders become the first ?? Indian club to win a #ACL match. Rahul Bheke, a local boy from Mumbai, sweetened the night by scoring the winning goal.#ACL2022 | #AFCvMUM pic.twitter.com/wy3KAZapiQ
— #ACL2022 (@TheAFCCL) April 11, 2022
Big win for India and big win for Mumbai! Heartiest congratulations @MumbaiCityFC ! Congratulations !! https://t.co/001n1ilSq2
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) April 11, 2022
Thanks for the support and love https://t.co/Ps2xSvhEqu
— Mumbai City FC (@MumbaiCityFC) April 11, 2022
?? https://t.co/PTnyN2BI71
—Bradden Inman (@brad_inman8) April 11, 2022
Congratulations on this historic achievement, @MumbaiCityFC ?
– Footballindia (@Footbalindia) April 11, 2022
Congratulations guys! It’s huge
—Shrutika Gaekwad (@Shrutika_45_) April 11, 2022
Congratulations Mumbai… ??
— Hyderabad FC (@HydFCOfficial) April 11, 2022
I hope you win next year too. Let the world know that our clubs are up there
— TeaChaiLa (@TeaChaiLa) April 11, 2022
Congratulations ??????
— SMRUTI RANJAN DAS (@SmrutiRDas012) April 11, 2022
Well done. What a great football diaplay.
What a calm and cool end of Mauritius from the point. Bheke was sublime with the header. Des strategy and tactics were amazing. Fall along with Lachenpa, Mandar and Amay stood like the Great Wall of China.– Rounok Kumar Das (@RounokDas) April 11, 2022
It was a great game ??❤️??
– A Teenager (@MemesMces) April 11, 2022
Thank you brother ❤️
?? A victory for India and Indian football today– A Teenager (@MemesMces) April 11, 2022
I also ?
— Huzefa (@HHyderabadwala) April 11, 2022
A team weaker than last season with a very inexperienced head coach won a match in the champions league against the best of Iraq (Intl rank 72). It means that our player is good enough to play on big stages and it also means that Stimac is a very, very bad coach.
—Rocky Rakesh Singh (@RockyRa98711770) April 11, 2022
Come on. Proud of this team?
– kαυẑtυvn (@k_p_18_) April 11, 2022
Amazing!! WHAT A NIGHT for INDIAN FOOTBALL!
— Vats of Sameer (@V27_Sam) April 11, 2022
Just a hint of how big and beautiful Indian football will be without Prafool and company.
– Animesh? (@AnimeshFooty) April 11, 2022
To be honest, the Iraqi club played well and created a lot of chances, but it didn’t end well.
Bad luck for them. Good for Mumbai City F.C.— Prem naam hai mera (@KisanPremjit) April 11, 2022
We have great players, why does our Indian coach play negative football? We have to change everything guys, please
– ConfusedMulga (@robinsamson17) April 11, 2022
#ISL I’m taking out all the pain of losing @MumbaiCityFC वाले ???? By the way, well played guys?⚽?
– ??Tee Ku?? (@tikaram_female) April 11, 2022
Fall of apostasy?
— SHEKAR (@Shekar____) April 11, 2022
The islanders are currently second in the Group B points table and will take on reigning UAE champions Al Jazeera on Thursday 14 April.