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After a draw against Bengaluru FC in a goalless fixture, Jamshedpur FC geared up for their last game of the year 2021 which was played against Kerala Blasters FC. It was a Boxing Day game which was played at the Tilak Maidan.
The game kicked-off as both teams looked determined to take the lead early on in the game. Jamshedpur did exactly what they aimed to do as they took the advantage in the first 15 minutes of the game from a free-kick. Greg Stewart stepped up to take the free-kick in the left wing and it looked too far off for the Scottish midfielder to go for goal, but Greg did the unbelievable and shot straight on target at the top corner. The ball curved inwards and grazed the left post, deflecting into the back of the net, thus giving Jamshedpur the lead in the game.
The Tuskers came back with everything to get back in the game and equalised 10 minutes later from a brilliant counter-attack. Vazquez brought the ball up the pitch from the half line towards the Jamshedpur FC goal, dribbled past the defence line and took a shot at goal which was saved by Rehenesh with a quick dive, but the ball deflected away and ended up at the feet of Abdul Sahal Samad; he took a shot at goal which was saved by Rehenesh again but could not completely parry the ball away as the ball bounced off of Rehenesh and into the net. With Kerala Blasters back in the game, the match heated up with multiple fouls and quarrels in the midfield as they wanted to get another goal on their side to finish the first half with the lead in their hands. However, both sides were unable to take advantage over the other as the first 45 minutes came to an end.
The second half kicked-off and the teams went at each other with determination and hunger with multiple attacks and chances seen on both ends of the pitch but the defensive line-ups were compact and composed to clear away every chance that the two attacking sides created to score. Kerala Blasters almost scored a goal to take the advantage after the skipper; Peter Hartley gave away the ball outside the box which led to an attempt at the goal by the Tuskers but fortunately the ball went over the keeper and bounced off the crossbar as the Jamshedpur squad breathed a sigh of relief.
Later, the Men of Steel also unleashed a ton of attacks to score a goal to take the lead as the Jitendra took a shot from outside the box on goal which deflected off a defender, but the man between the sticks of the Kerala Blasters, Prabhsukhan Gill, made a comfortable save to keep the Tuskers in the game. The Men of Steel came very close to taking the lead in the final moments of the game in a quick counter-attack as Ricky slid to cancel out an attack from Kerala Blasters. He won the ball in the midfield and delivered a brilliant lobbed through ball to Ishan Pandita who had taken his run towards the Tuskers box and came in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper as he tried to put the ball away into the goal with an attempt to finish the ball at the near post, but the keeper was alert enough to make a quick save and save the team from conceding a late goal. Despite a few corner kicks awarded in the extra time of the game, Jamshedpur FC could not convert those set-piece chances into a goal and the game ended in a convincing draw.
The tough battle at the Tilak Maidan between the two rivals came to a close with both teams sharing the spoils. The Men of Steel climbed to the second position on the ISL table with a point in hand, two points away from the table leaders, Mumbai City FC, thus closing the year 2021 with a draw and on a positive note.
