3 Reasons why Chennaiyin FC lost 3-1 to Jamshedpur FC

Chennaiyin FC failed to build on their 4-2 win at Pune City, as they succumbed to a 3-1 loss against Jamshedpur on Sunday night at JRD Tata Sports Complex.

Chennai named an unchanged line-up from the Pune game, whereas Jamshedpur coach Cesar Ferrando brought on Tamil Nadu’s Michael Soosairaj, a player Chennai was linked with last summer, for Jerry Mawihmingthanga.

The loss leaves the Marina Machans needing a miracle to climb to the top half of the Indian Super League standings, as they now sit 10 points behind fifth-placed Mumbai City. Jamshedpur, meanwhile, now sit third, two points behind table-toppers Goa, but have played at least one game more than any other team in the competition.

The Jamshedpur coach said after the game they deserved to win the game despite making mistakes, while John Gregory, his Chennai counterpart, felt Jamshedpur’s scoring two quick goals, one via a debatable penalty, meant they couldn’t come back into the game.

Here are three reasons why Chennaiyin FC lost.

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#3 Disconnect between midfield and attack

Jeje Lalpekhlua has not scored even a single goal this season [Image: ISL]

When a predominantly defensive midfielder, Thoi Singh at three goals, tops the goal-scoring chart at a club, you know the strikers aren’t doing an excellent job. Jeje Lalpekhlua has been rather unimpressive this season, failing to find the net even once in four starts and four appearances off the bench. Carlos Salom, the only other centre-forward, has scored a solitary goal in 413 minutes.

Against Jamshedpur, in particular, the 27-year-old Indian international looked isolated, receiving little support from the midfield even though Raphael Augusto, Chennai’s key midfielder, had a decent outing yet again. The Chennai coach needs to address the disconnect between the Chennai midfield and attack, especially with the AFC Asian Cup tournament looming.

#2 Karanjit Singh’s blunder

A helpless Karanjit Singh fails to stop Pablo Morgado's long-range attempt [Image: ISL]

Karanjit Singh has been an excellent servant to Chennai, playing a crucial role in their 2017-18 title-winning season, after splitting first-team duty with former Armenia international Apoula Edel in the other title-winning season, in 2015. By the looks of things, though, Chennai needs to move on.

The 32-year-old has had a season to forget thus far, as he’s let in goals he’d not have a couple of seasons ago. While the first goal, a 25-yard screamer from Pablo Morgado, and the penalty looked rather unstoppable, Mario Arques managed to bamboozle him for the third from close range, restoring Jamshedpur’s two-goal lead in the process.

It effectively punctured any hope Chennai had to get back into the game though Raphael Augusto had only scored four minutes earlier. Chennaiyin FC needs to invest in a younger goalkeeper come the summer to have a crack at reclaiming their title next season.

#1 Poor start to the game

Carlos Calvo celebrates his goal [Image: ISL]

Chennai started the game slowly, with Jamshedpur enjoying most of the ball in the opening minutes. While last season Chennai managed to keep out danger when they had slow starts and eked out late winners, on Sunday night, their defence leaked two goals in quick succession from Spaniards Pablo Morgado and Carlos Calvo, leaving them trailing 2-0 in less than half an hour.

The Chennai coach did tag the penalty call for the latter’s goal “debatable” in the post-match press conference, but it’s on the Chennai backline to allow Sumeet Passi, whom Jerry Lalrinzuala brought down for the penalty, to be in a promising position.

If Chennai are to do well in the continental competition, they need to avoid conceding goals so early in the game as they don't seem to possess the mental strength required to bounce back after conceding an early goal or two.