Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
Related Articles
After sharing the spoils with Hyderabad FC in the previous game, Jamshedpur FC moved ahead to face the former champions ATK Mohun Bagan at the GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim.
The fixture kicked-off with the Mariners unleashing their new formation with three defenders in the back. The game picked up intensity right from the start with both teams getting opportunities to score in the early minutes of the game, but none of the attempts were anywhere close to heading it inside the net. Jamshedpur started knocking on ATK Mohun Bagan’s door in the first 15 minutes of the game as few of the lobbed crosses into the box could have been possible goals, but they were dealt away by the Mariner’s defence.
Even though ATK Mohun Bagan kept majority of the ball possession, Jamshedpur FC threatened the ATK Mohun Bagan box multiple times with Komal and Greg’s on-target attempts; Amrinder Singh made sure the ball stayed out of the goal line. After their attempts went in vain, the goal that Jamshedpur were striving for, was finally achieved as Len, who continuously kept penetrating the Mariners box, came through with a beautiful side-netting finish to beat Amrinder Singh and his defensive line.
A smart pass from the middle by the youngster, Jitendra, landed in Len’s right foot, who had already taken a run into the box, and completed the play with an accurate finish. After conceding a goal in the closing minutes of the first half, ATK Mohun Bagan too stepped up their attack and almost got back into the game with an equalising goal. Roy Krishna from a steep angle took an attempt which got saved by Rehenesh, but could not parry away the ball completely as it almost rolled into the goal; Eli Sabia came to the rescue with a quick run and cleared the ball away from the goalline, thus saving the Jamshedpur side from conceding a goal right before halftime.
The next half kicked-off with fresh energy from both sides of the pitch. With the eyes set on the opposition’s box, Jamshedpur continued their fast-paced attacks towards the ATK Mohun Bagan side and the Mariners reciprocated the same, but the defensive line were compact as they blocked away every opportunity the attackers came up with. The game saw numerous corners for both ATK Mohun Bagan and Jamshedpur FC as they looked to score from corner set-pieces which both the sides are well known for.
The match got extremely heated as a rash tackle from Pronay in an ATK Mohun Bagan counter-attack, led to a major argument and quarrel between the players. With yellow cards being given left, right and centre, the heat just kept on increasing as the game proceeded. Right when the fixture entered its final 10 minutes, the momentum of the game turned towards the Men of Steel right after a tactical substitution of Alex Lima coming in place of Greg Stewart. As soon as the Brazilian stepped up to the pitch, he received a ball in the middle of the box from Boris and shot it into the right corner, which Amrinder could not get his hands on even with a quick dive. It finally gave the Men of Steel the cushion lead that they were aiming for with just a few minutes left on the timer.
Despite being down with a 2 goal margin, ATK Mohun Bagan continued their quest to get back into the game with fast-paced counter-attacks and clever side switching; it won them a goal in the last few minutes of the game as a shot blocked away by Rehenesh deflected off of Pritam Kotal’s knee, who was part of the counter-attacking play, near the goal and the ball rolled into the net. The Mariners side carried on their hunt for an equalising goal after their spirits were lifted from the first goal, but the disciplined defence of Jamshedpur FC ensured no mistakes were made in the defending process, and dealt with every chance with confidence.
The game of the highest intensity finally came to an end as the Men of Steel bagged their second victory in the 2021-22 campaign and walked away victorious, adding another unbeaten game to their record. The Men of Steel went up the league table to second place with the three winning points at the GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim.
