Jamshedpur FC were victorious against Mumbai City FC (3-2) in an ISL clash which saw three penalties being awarded by the referee. Greg Stewart scored from the penalty spot deep into injury-time to hand Jamshedpur FC the winner.
In a crucial match with respect to the playoffs race, the Red Miners scored two goals in the first half.
In the second half, Rahul Bheke reduced the deficit for the Islanders with a goal in the 57th minute. Igor Angulo missed an opportunity to equalize when he failed to convert a penalty kick into a goal for Mumbai City FC. However, the visitors received another penalty in the 86th minute which was put into the back of the net by Diego Mauricio.
However, Vignesh Dakshinamurthy conceded a silly handball in the 90+4th minute of the match to award Jamshedpur FC a penalty. Stewart made no mistake and collected all three points for his ISL team.
Speaking about the same during the post-match presser, Mumbai City FC boss Des Buckingham said:
"I think we didn't start well. We made some changes and we got ourselves back into the game, 2-1, and then we got the penalty. We should have made it 2-2, but then we managed to get back to 2-2 and then to concede with a handball in the box in the 94th minute."
The Englishman continued, denoting his disappointment:
"It does knock the stuffing out of you a little bit, but I'm proud of the way that we got back into the game second half, but we should have taken something from the game."
With this loss, making it to the ISL playoffs seems to be a difficult task for the Islanders. They sit in fifth position, one point behind Kerala Blasters how have a game in hand. Buckingham is still hopeful of getting results in their stride and qualifying for the top four once again. He said:
"I think it sets it up nicely. Now we know what we have to do in the final four games, and we must go out and play the way we have in the second half for all four of those games and if come away with those results, we'll still put ourselves in the position we want."
Catch the next match on the ISL fixtures here.
"My group of players are never out of the game" - Jamshedpur FC head coach elated after victory
Owen Coyle was a happy man after his side sneaked out with all three points from the match. With the fight for the ISL League Shield heating up, these points have proven to be very crucial for Jamshedpur FC.
Jamshedpur FC head coach Coyle said:
"It was another massive win as it was against Kerala because you're playing direct rivals for the top four spots. Had we lost, we would've been three points behind them. But as it is, we're now three ahead with a game in hand. So that's how crucial the game was."
Jamshedpur FC's fighting spirit was on display as they kept pushing for the winner until the last minute. They were rewarded with an opportunity to win the match and they accepted it with both hands. Emphasizing his men's spirit, Coyle said:
"Mumbai probably felt, well, we have five minutes to go and win the game. But my group of players are never ever out of a game. Even a coach team would think, well, hold on for the point, the momentum is against us, but that's not how we play. Fantastic three points and well deserved because we keep going."