ISL 2022-23 | East Bengal FC vs Jamshedpur FC: Red Miners secure their first away victory with an impressive performance

Jamshedpur FC defeated East Bengal FC by a scoreline of two goals to one on Friday, January 13. The Salt Lake Stadium once again witnessed Cleiton Silva scoring but the Red Miners responded with two goals in the second half to seal an important victory.

Both sides tried to get a grip on the game in the opening ten minutes. Jamshedpur FC started stringing some neat touches and combinations but it was East Bengal who opened the scoring in the 12th minute.

They won the first ball in midfield, which in turn allowed Alex Lima to turn and run at the Jamshedpur backline. He then teed up Naorem Mahesh, whose shot was spilled by the keeper before falling straight to the feet of Cleiton Silva. The Brazilian appeared to be in an offside position but the referee awarded the goal.

The Red and Gold Brigade found joy down the flanks with Mahesh and VP Suhair’s movement and pace causing problems for Jamshedpur FC. Additionally, Silva constantly dropped between the lines to create overload in the middle of the park.

The Red Miners could not deal with his movement as he received the ball in space and brought the likes of Alex, Mahesh, and Suhair into play.

Meanwhile, despite conceding an early goal, Jamshedpur FC surged forward and had a couple of decent opportunities to score in the first quarter of the game. However, Rafael Crivellaro and Daniel Chima Chukwu were restricted in the final third.

Chukwu’s hold-up play, though, was effective, with the Nigerian winning seven duels in the first half. The Red Miners had five shots on target but ultimately failed to convert their chances. The half ended with East Bengal FC leading by a goal to nil.

Jamshedpur FC turn things around in the second half

The second half started in a cagey fashion. Jamshedpur FC looked to push forward but were prevented from doing so by East Bengal FC’s backline. The Red and Gold Brigade also struggled to get going and were pinned back by their opponents.

The Red Miners continued to knock on the door when manager Aidy Boothroyd decided to turn to his bench. Harrison Sawyer and Ishan Pandita replaced Chukwu and Boris Singh.

It paid dividends as Sawyer found the back of the net with his first touch of the game around the hour mark. Jamshedpur FC were aided by some poor defending in the six-yard box and the ball kindly fell to the Australian who had a simple tap-in.

The away side took control of the proceedings as Crivallero started growing into the game. However, East Bengal FC had their best chance of the second half against the run of play when Silva rounded the keeper but failed to hit the target.

The game became an end-to-end affair as the half wore on, with Crivellaro at the heart of Jamshedpur FC’s charge. They were eventually rewarded for their efforts when Ritwik Das scored for the second consecutive game.

Substitute Germanpreet was involved as his cross found the 26-year-old’s head in the 85th minute.

The Men of Steel held on to their lead but for East Bengal FC, things went from bad to worse in the second half. They have won just one of their six home games and their playoff hopes are hanging by a thread.

For Boothroyd’s side, however, the result was a huge boost. The Red Miners looked like a team playing with desire and the addition of Pronay Halder and Crivellaro has certainly helped their cause. They will hope that this victory is the architect of their turnaround.