Durand Cup 2021: Jamshedpur FC edge past wasteful Sudeva

Jamshedpur FC opened their Durand Cup 2021 account with a 1-0 win over Sudeva Delhi FC at the Mohun Bagan Athletic ground in Kolkata on Monday. Sudeva will rue their missed chances and a missed penalty, as they had the better share of this Group B encounter.

Forward Lalruatmawia’s first half strike condemned the Delhi-based I-League club to an opening game defeat. They could have equalized around the hour mark but winger Shubho Paul’s penalty was saved by goalkeeper Vishal Yadav.

Jamshedpur FC register first points on the board

After an initial flurry of long-range efforts and quick possession turnovers, the first shot on target came in the 26th minute. Sudeva had a corner half-cleared and it was volleyed into the Jamshedpur keeper’s arms by attacking midfielder Lotjam.

Eight minutes later, Jamshedpur broke the deadlock with a slightly fortunate goal. Vikash broke through the Sudeva ranks and his deflected through ball found its way into the path of Lalruatmawia. The Mizo striker made no mistake in slotting it past the keeper.

Sudeva responded with a sense of urgency as William’s header hit the side netting and 10 minutes later, Lalliansanga headed over the bar. Keeper Vishal had a scare just before half-time as he came to collect a cross and missed it completely. But he was not punished.

The second half was a more competitive affair as Sudeva chased a leveler. They were given a lifeline when the referee awarded them a penalty kick for a handball by Jamshedpur defender Sandip Mandi. But Vishal guessed right and saved Shubho’s effort to maintain his clean sheet.

Shubho recently had a short training stint with FC Bayern Munich in Germany as part of their "World Squad". But he had a game to forget and was substituted in the 80th minute.

Seemingly undeterred by this setback, Sudeva kept at it and substitute Ngangbam Naocha’s flick-on header went just over the bar. Another substitute, Siddharth, who was very lively after coming on, had a shot blocked three minutes before the end.

Having opted to field their reserve team, Jamshedpur had a youthful look to their side, with an average age of barely 20. Sudeva also fielded a very young side but were the better team and deserved at least a point.

The game lacked any sort of flow and a pre-match rain spell did not really help matters. Both these teams will likely fight it out for 2nd place in the Group behind FC Goa. Right now, Jamshedpur have the upper hand with three points in the bag.