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In a crucial home game for Jamshedpur, Caser Ferrando’s men locked horns with the Delhi Dynamos in hopes of climbing up the ladder from the 6th spot in the table. After consecutive draws in the last two games, Jamshedpur were willing to break into the top four especially with the likes of Mumbai City FC and FC Goa gaining momentum in the race to the top.
Jamshedpur received a week’s gap before this game and were willing to salvage some much-needed points against a weaker side in Delhi Dynamos who were languishing at the bottom of the table.
Delhi was yet to win a match after 10 games in the season and had come to Jamshedpur in hopes of keeping some momentum alive going into the New Year.
As the match unfolded, Delhi was the first to go on the scoresheet with a subtle finish from Lallianzuala Chhangte. The goal was soon compensated by a Tim Cahill header in the first half and a Farukh Choudhary strike in the second which turned out to be the winner.
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With that win, Jamshedpur go into the winter breaks with some much-needed points and Delhi with nothing but pride to play for.
#5 Cahill on the scoresheet
Jamshedpur have been begging for some help from their forwards in terms of chance conversions in front of the goal and they will be pretty happy to have Cahill’s name on the score sheet. Cahill who last scored against Kerala, thundered the ball into the net off a trademark header to bring in an equaliser for Jamshedpur just six minutes after Delhi opened the scoring.
The cross came in from Carlos Calvo from just outside the box on the right flank who found Cahill just in front of the goal, completely free. The goal can also be credited to some sluggish Delhi defence which kept Tim Cahill completely unmarked in front of the goal and rightly paid for it by taking nothing from Cahill’s finish. Cahill was calm and composed as he showed great technique to finish the ball at the back of the net while he was dipping down from an early jump.
Jamshedpur would be hoping that Cahill fires for them in the days to come as they desperately need some goal scoring inspiration from one of their forwards and Cahill might just be the perfect man to suit the cause.
#4 Clinical Chhangte
The brightest star on the field for Delhi was Lallianzuala Chhangte who proved again, why he was selected for the Indian squad for the AFC Asian Cup. The Delhi midfielder was one of the most prominent players on the field and also the only goal scorer for Delhi in the match. He scored between the legs of the Jamshedpur defenders to which Subrata Paul could do a little about.
Chhangte who scored his fourth goal of the season has been in a really good form and it reflected on today’s match. He was clinical for Delhi on the wings, switching flanks with Narayan Das and making life tough for the Jamshedpur defence. Even with limited chances, Chhangte managed to squeeze in 4 shots towards goal and engaged the Jamshedpur defence to create chances for Delhi.
Overall, irrespective of the result Chhangte will very happy with his performance on the field
#3 Farukh Choudhary with a screamer
Coach Caser Ferrando made a welcome change to the Jamshedpur's team-sheet by giving Farukh Choudhary a start in the game. Jamshedpur has been pondering upon finding a perfect forward line for them this season and they will be quite happy to get results from both Cahill and Farukh.
Farukh, who has been announced in the 34-man squad of the Indian Team for the AFC Asia Cup, showed signs of his class by scoring the winner for Jamshedpur. A beautiful goal came off the boots of the Jamshedpur No.11 as he received the ball on his left foot just inside the penalty box and was quick to act before the Delhi Defenders to strike the ball in the back of the net.
Even without the goal, Farukh was clinical with his runs on the wings till the time he was in the field and looked like a serious threat for the Delhi defence. But least to say the goal would give some much-needed confidence to the Indian forward just before the Asian Cup and of course a legitimate attacking option for Stephan Constantine.
#2 An Unfortunate Referee Decision
The ISL referees have had their fair share of criticism in this season of the Indian Super League and a proof of one such instance was found in this match as the visiting side missed out on a definite penalty in the 70th minute of the game.
Jamshedpur’s Robin Gurung committed a certain howler inside the box as he quite prominently slapped the ball in front of a Delhi striker on what looked a prominent handball even in the real-time play. Referee Pranjal Banerjee who was the Indian Referee of the year shut down the appeal from the Delhi players and in turn showed a yellow card for the appeal.
Even if Pranjal Banerjee’s vision could be excused, one cannot argue on the clear vision of the sideline referee who could have assisted the main referee in making the correct decision.
Teams have been suffering on the plight of foul referee decisions throughout this season and its high time that the AIFF and the ISL address this problem as quickly as possible as it quite certainly affects the overall quality of the game.
#1 Where do the two teams go from here
Jamshedpur would be going into the winter break on a high. Even though Jamshedpur have played a couple of more matches than FC Goa, this win puts Jamshedpur back into the top four and they will be looking to carry the momentum after play resumes in February 2019.
Jamshedpur would also be confident of the fact that Cido and Soosai would be back with them in the second half of the season and if they can hold on to the points, a top four finish is certainly on the cards.
For Delhi, the season looks done and dusted. As of this point, even a miracle wouldn’t be enough to make them qualify for the playoffs. But even without a win so far this season, Delhi will be pleased with their show of character that they have displayed in this match. Delhi’s season has been majorly dampened by their poor backline and their ability to finish off the games.
Coach Josep Gombau, who would consider himself rather unfortunate in terms of results, could likely face the axe after this match. With rumours already in the air, hints of the DD coach leaving could be traced as post-match the entire team gathered on the field in a huddle with the coach.
Delhi has one match to go before the winter break and would be hoping to finally break the shackles this season.
