East Bengal’s resilience goes in vain as Ishan Pandita’s late goal secures a 1-0 win for Jamshedpur
Ishan Pandita’s last gasp winner helped Jamshedpur bag all three points against East Bengal in ‘Match 57’ of the 2021-22 Indian Super League season.
Though Jamshedpur head coach Owen Coyle fielded the same starting XI that won 3-2 against Chennaiyin recently, he switched the formation from 4-4-1-1 to 4-2-3-1 playing Greg Stewart as an attacking midfielder instead of his preferred second striker role.
On the other hand, Renedy Singh named an all-Indian XI as he made three changes to East Bengal’s starting XI replacing the injured Joyner Lourenco with Ankit Mukherjee. Naorem Mahesh was introduced in Daniel Chima Chukwu’s place who has left the team according to reports from the camp while Mohammed Rafique was also introduced in the playing XI with Bikash Jairu making his way to the bench.
The Red Miners expectedly had the better start as the initial phase of the game saw them get plenty of set-piece opportunities but they failed to make them count. The first major opening of the game came in the 11th minute when a Jamshedpur corner found Eli Sabia completely unmarked but the central defender failed to keep his shot on target.
Twelve minutes later, another precise Jamshedpur corner found Sabia’s defensive partner Peter Hartley in space but the Englishman failed to generate adequate power on his header. Boris Singh got an opportunity seconds before the half-time mark when a whipped cross in from the right flank found him unmarked but he failed to keep his header on target.
Coyle’s team dominated proceedings in the first half but failed to produce clear-cut openings with the likes of Hira Mondal and Adil Khan proving their mettle once again in the East Bengal defense.
Following a similar pattern, Jamshedpur started the second half brightly and came agonizingly close to breaking the deadlock in the 52nd minute. A cross from the right flank by Sabia was flicked on by Stewart towards Jordan Murray’s path whose header left the East Bengal custodian Arindam Bhattacharja rooted to his spot but the ball stayed out after hitting the crossbar.
The Red and Golds got a rare opportunity three minutes later, courtesy of a freekick from a dangerous position. Thongkhosiem Haokip’s effort was on target nonetheless but directed straight at Jamshedpur custodian Pawan Kumar, who had no problems dealing with the shit.
Coyle tried to inject fresh legs by introducing Pandita and Alex Lima while his East Bengal counter-part also played his hand by bringing on veteran striker Balwant Singh.
Murray came close to handing his team the lead once again in the 74th minute when a beautiful chest trap allowed the Australian striker to try his luck out with a volley after a long ball from the deep but his effort went wide.
Jordan Murray came close to scoring on multiple occasions
Luck was not on Murray’s side today as he squandered another opportunity in the 85th minute as a pass from Stewart took a deflection off Amarjit Singh Kiyam and landed kindly in the feet of the former Central Coast Mariners marksman whose effort was directed straight at Bhattacharja.
But just as when the Red and Golds would have thought they did enough to secure their fourth consecutive draw, Coyle’s team came up with a dramatic concluding act. A curling corner from Stewart in the 88th minute found Pandita at the near post whose header bagged all three points for Jamshedpur yet again, only five days after a 93rd-minute winner against NorthEast United.
Jamshedpur has dethroned Kerala Blasters at the top of the table with this win and will now take on top-spot challengers Hyderabad on Monday. On the other hand, East Bengal remains rooted at the bottom and their next assignment is against the reinvigorated Goa next Wednesday.