The first match of February saw some good football in the Indian subcontinent as proceedings resumed in the subcontinent at the GMC Stadium Bambolim for the 79th match of the Hero Indian Super League. Jamshedpur FC trumped Odisha FC as Mobashir Rahman‘s stunning goal proved to be the winning goal.
With the race to the top 4 getting increasingly difficult, these two teams placed in the lower half of the points table were desperate for a win. Especially so for the Juggernauts as they just had one win in the entire season, and are at the bottom of the points table for quite some time now. Jamshedpur FC too was not doing too well, with no wins from their last 5 matches, and are currently placed sixth in the points table.
The match started with Jamshedpur FC dominating up front. Just 3 minutes into the match, Manuel Onwu‘s shot from the centre of the box went off target. Again, at the 6-minute mark, Peter Hartley‘s header from the right side of the box went really close but somehow missed the net. It was a well-executed cross by Nick Fitzgerald. Jamshedpur FC kept creating chances attempts at goal as Nerijus Valskis and Nick Fitzgerald missed their attempts at goal. Arshdeep Singh was the key player here who denied sure goals to Jamshedpur FC.
The deadlock was finally broken by Jamshedpur FC as Mohammad Mobashir scored at the 41st minute. His early cross sneaked in unexpectedly and found the back of the net. There was some confusion between the Odisha FC keeper and their defender and Arshdeep Singh could have done better.
A dominating first half by the Red Mariners saw them translate the same flawless confidence into the second half as well, as the Juggernauts had a difficult time on the pitch. Jamshedpur FC kept creating chances throughout but was denied another goal. The Juggernauts’ talisman Diego Mauricio was the only player from the other team to have made any proper impact in the game as he created a couple of chances for himself but was unfortunately denied.
Nerijus Valskis’ bicycle kick off Stephen Eze’s header was an absolute treat to watch but it went off target. It was an acrobatic effort but unlucky. Farukh Choudhary, in his own brilliance, created some good opportunities, but luck was not in his favour, as the attempts were slightly wide to the goal. The rest of the match saw no more goals and ended 1-0 in favour of the Red Miners.
Hero of the Match
The awards for the Hero of the Match and the DHL Winning Pass of the Match were both awarded to Seiminlen Doungel for his relentless performance throughout the game. With 3 shots to the goal, 7 successful tackles and 6 perfect crosses, he was the best choice for this award.
With the win, Jamshedpur FC now has 18 points from 15 matches. Now at the 6th position in the table, they face SC East Bengal up next, on the 7th of February. Odisha FC is still at the bottom of the table with only 8 points from 14 matches, and they face off against ATK Mohun Bagan on the 6th of February.
