Mumbai City FC finished first in the standings at the end of the 2016 ISL league stage, thus qualifying for the semifinals for the very first time led by Diego Forlán who was their marquee player.

[8][9] In ISL players draft held on 23 July 2017, Mumbai City picked defender Aiborlang Khongjee who was loaned out to the franchise by Shillong Lajong in previous season.

Mumbai City added eleven new players from draft, goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya and Kunal Sawant, defender Biswajit Saha, Mehrajuddin Wadoo and Lalchhawnkima, midfielder Abhinas Ruidas, Sahil Tavora, Sanju Pradhan and Zakeer Mundampara and forward Balwant Singh and Pranjal Bhumij.

[19] On 3 September, Mumbai City announced signing of Brazilian midfielder Thiago Santos on a season long deal from Flamengo.

[21] Mumbai City FC arranged a 10-day pre-season training camp in Pune where they used the facilities of DSK Shivajians[30] before flying off to Valencia, Spain for rest of the preseason.

As the match progressed, Bengaluru started showing more flair and came close to opening their account thrice in the span of six minutes.

In the second half, Bengaluru scored their first goal in ISL, courtesy a short corner routine, when Edu García drilled one past former BFC man Amrinder Singh at the near post at the 67th minute.

A defensive mix up between Wadoo and Amrinder in added time meant that Chhetri could get his name on the scoresheet and sealed a 2–0 victory for Bengaluru.

Uruguayan Emiliano Alfaro bagged a brace in the second half after the home team had gone behind from a sublime Balwant Singh strike in the first.

Lucian Goian and Everton Santos struck in the first half to give Mumbai City a 2 goal cushion.

The half, however, ended on a sour note as a tussle between Mumbai's Sehnaj Singh and Delhi's Mirabaje earned both a straight red.

Eleven minutes from time, Emana found Balwant with a lovely chip, who chested the ball down and hit a scuffed shot off his calf, that wrong-footed Arnab to roll over the goal-line, thus adding a fourth goal to Delhi's misery.

They then lost their 2nd 'Maha' derby of the season when Diego Carlos and Marcelinho scored a goal in each half to end the match with a 2-0 scoreline.

Mumbai then recorded 2 consecutive wins in the league when they defeated ATK away and NorthEast United on home, courtesy of a late Goian winner, thus keeping their playoff hopes alive.

Leo Costa and Balwant Singh had early opportunities, while Everton came the nearest to scoring when his powerful shot from distance rebounded off the far post.

In the second half, the Arrows kept thronging Mumbai's box with well-strung passes and eventually got rewarded in the 77th minute, when Rahul scored an amazing opener.

However, on the 90th minute mark, they ended up giving away a penalty to Mumbai when Rai brought Everton down in the box and Emana made no mistake to convert it from the spot.

In the first period of the extra time Everton then gave Mumbai the lead with a powerful shot from the edge of the box to enter the last 15 minutes with a one-goal advantage.