NorthEast United FC finally broke through their 7-game winless run in Indian Super League tonight. The Highlanders beat Jamshedpur FC with a 2-1 scoreline in a match where the two teams were equal rivals. Khalid Jamil, who was made the interim head-coach replacing Gerard Nus, began with a win in his first match in this campaign.
Just within 7 minutes from the start, the Highlanders got and missed a golden opportunity. Idrissa Sylla collected a pass on the left flank before catering to Federico Gallego. He produced a fine cross to the box but none were present to convert it to a goal. In the very next minute, Nerijus Valskis was denied a golden opportunity. The Jamshedpur talisman moved into the box but could not beat the hands of Subhasish Roy who produced a golden save.
In the next few minutes, both teams were searching for an opening as they seemed to be cautious while probing the defence line of the opponent, looking for a loose end that could be used as a scoring opportunity.
At the 21st minute, Sylla chested a corner kick and danced towards the goal, but failed thanks to Rehenesh Paramba. The goalie drove to his left to push the ball out of the danger zone, denying Dylan Fox.
It was nearly an even contest with the ball until the first 25 minutes, but then gradually the Highlanders took over. Rehenesh became the saviour again as Louis Machado pulled off a spectacular scissor kick. The keeper drove to his right to edge the ball away from the goal
At the 36th minute, Asutosh Mehta opened the book for the highlanders. From a corner kick by Gallego, he headed the ball in the net. The Highlanders took a 1-0 lead. At this point, the Red Miners were a bit lost when NorthEast United started dominating and winning the ball.
After the break, the Highlanders got back to back chances when Rehenesh collected a long ball aimed for Deshhorn Brown. Seconds later, they got another chance again but Brown failed to score from it.
The Red Miners got a good chance at this time. Issac Vanmalsawma passed the highlander defence but failed to score as Khassa Camara made a vital interception at the last moment.
Soon after that, NorthEast United doubled their lead as Brown scored their second goal. Gallego provides the ball into the open space and Brown did not make any mistake to score a goal in the 61st minute.
Jamshedpur Fc continued to lag as they failed to create many opportunities. Valskis were on target a few times, but Subhasish pulled out some amazing saves to deny the goal. At last, Peter Hartley managed to find the net on the 88th minute. A corner kick bounced off his hand before finding the net. Yet, it was too little too late, as not much drama was left in the match after this.
Hero of the match: Federico Gallego
He was the deserving winner of the Hero of the Match award today. He kept the midfield active and also created key passes in the box. It was his corner kick which assisted the goals. With 74 touches and 6 chances created, he led his side tonight. He got the DHL winning pass of the match award too.
Good performance yet poor finishing from the Red Miners cost them the game where the Highlanders got the valuable 3 points. They are at the 5th spot now with 15 points from 12 games, where Jamshedpur FC is at the 8th for the loss tonight. NorthEast United is now going to face ATK Mohun Bagan on their next match on Republic day, where Jamshedpur FC will try to redeem themselves against Hyderabad FC on 24th January.
