Mumbai, Feb 18 (IANS): Defending champions Bengaluru FC (BFC) suffered yet another setback to their aspirations of retaining the I-League crown as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Mumbai FC at the Cooperage ground here on Saturday.

Bengaluru, currently fourth on the table, are now without a win in six games, having garnered 13 points from nine outings.

They are eight points adrift of table toppers East Bengal who have 21 in their kitty having played nine games. Mumbai, on the other hand, have eight points from 10 matches.

The result is Bengaluru's fourth straight draw in the league while Mumbai have now gone eight games without a win.

There were chances galore at both ends of the pitch but poor finishing cost both teams as the honours were shared at the end of 90 minutes.

In the first half, the visitors came close on a number of occasions with Udanta Singh at the forefront on two counts.

In the 17th minute, the pacy forward's arial attempt from the left wing missed the target by a whisker. Eight minutes later, Udanta was involved a brilliant counter-attack when he combined with Alwyn George running down the park with panache. Thankfully for the hosts, their goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani cleared the danger.

For Mumbai, Brazilian Anderson da Silva was accurate with his free-kicks but failed to finish well.

Post the breather, Alex Willian and former Bengaluru FC midfielder Thoi Singh combined well but the latter failed to keep his strike on target.