Iranian Club Nassaji Mazandaran FC defeated Mumbai City FC 2-0 in the kickstart match of AFC Champions League 2023 at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex at Balewadi, Pune in the Group D encounter last night.

Mumbai City FC kept the attack throughout the Match but could not deliver a goal despite numerous chances, especially in the 1st half of the game. Nassaji Mazandaran opened their scorecard in the 33rd minute of the game, with the help of Ehsan Hosseini’s 1st goal of the Match. At 62 minutes in the second half, Mohammadreza Azadi extended Nassaji Mazandaran's lead to 0-2.  Mumbai City FC could not equalize till the end of the game.

Mumbai Football Club, Al-Hilal SFC, Nassaji Mazandaran, and Navbahor are the four teams in Group D of AFC and each team will have to play against three other teams in their respective group. Mumbai FC will have a tough challenge in Group D as Al-Hilal, a four-time Asian Football Club champion, has boosted the confidence after winning the National Super League. Forty clubs are participating in the  Asian Football Club Super League and the teams are divided into ten groups.