Despite going down to 10 men inside the first 30 minutes of the match, Jamshedpur FC lived up to their moniker by coming up with a steely defensive display to share the points against table-toppers Mumbai City FC in Bambolim, Goa on Monday.
As Mumbai City FC coach Sergio Lobera said at the end of the match, his side dropped two points and it was thanks to a brilliant defensive performance by Peter Hartley and Co.
Both the goals in the match came before the sending off of Aitor Monroy, with Nerijus Valskis scoring his sixth goal of the season to put Jamshedpur ahead. Despite MCFC starting strongly, Owen Coyle’s men pounced on a mistake by Bartholomew Ogbeche. But the striker made amends quickly, to sweep home the equaliser.
The sending off, however, meant Jamshedpur were under pressure for most of the remainder of the match. But they held on till full time, to remain unbeaten after losing in the opening match.
ISL points table after match No 28
| Matches | W | D | L | Pts | For/Against | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai City | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 9:3 | 6 |
| NorthEast Utd. | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 8:5 | 3 |
| ATK Mohun Bagan | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6:3 | 3 |
| Bengaluru FC | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 9:6 | 3 |
| FC Goa | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 7:5 | 2 |
| Jamshedpur FC | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 7:7 | 0 |
| Hyderabad | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3:2 | 1 |
| Chennaiyin FC | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3:4 | -1 |
| Kerala Blasters | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5:10 | -5 |
| Odisha | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2:7 | -5 |
| SC East Bengal | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0:7 | -7 |
Mumbai dominated the early exchanges as Monroy had to dive to block Ogbeche’s shot as early as the first minute. But it was Jamshedpur who drew first blood. Just nine minutes had passed when Jackichand Singh found Valskis in the penalty box. The Lithuanian’s first-time shot was unerring. Barely three minutes later, Monroy could only find the side netting from a free-kick.
Monroy was in the thick of things a couple of minutes later, hacking Cy Goddard down and getting himself in the referee’s book. Then, Mumbai found their equaliser. Adam Le Fondre made a run down the left before squaring the ball to Bipin Singh. The latter found Ogbeche and the Nigerian unleashed a powerful drive past Jamshedpur keeper TP Rehenesh.
Jamshedpur responded to the goal with a flurry of attacks but in the 28th minute, the match turned firmly in Mumbai’s favour. Monroy brought Ogbeche down right in front of the referee and got his second yellow.
Mumbai unleashed wave after wave of attacks, but to no avail. Mourtada Fall blazed one over in the 38th minute while, a couple of minutes later, Ogbeche headed wide from close range. The Jamshedpur defence held firm as both teams went into the break on level terms.
The second half picked up where the first had left off with Lobera’s men giving everything in their bid to find a winner. They missed a golden opportunity in the 61st minute when a blocked Ogbeche shot trickled down to Rowllin Borges. The midfielder had the goal gaping in front but somehow managed to hoof it over the bar.
Jamshedpur were doing a lot more than just defending. Valskis thought he had given them an unlikely lead in the 79th minute, only for the referee to raise his flag. At the other end, Rehenesh produced a terrific double-save in the 83rd minute to keep his side in the game, first blocking a stinging volley from Le Fondre and then pushing away the rebound to prevent the onrushing Ogbeche from bundling it in. The offside flag went up, but nothing could take away from the brilliance of the goalkeeping.
Ogbeche then missed a clear-cut chance to put his team ahead in injury time, failing to divert a free header from close range into goal.
But ultimately, captain Hartley led the way with his dogged defending and a number of missed chances for Mumbai meant the points were shared.
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