The league shield winners are unbeaten at home and Jamshedpur FC will miss key players on Monday but few ISL teams know how to suffer and surprise like Jamil’s men. Few can sit deep and frustrate opponents and hit on the break like the men in red.
“The players have worked very hard. They knew the importance of this game. I didn’t have to motivate them,” said Jamil
A strong claim for a penalty turned down, Jamshedpur FC led through Javier Siverio’s 24th minute header before Mohun Bagan levelled from a brilliant Jason Cummings’s free kick in the 37th minute. Javi Hernandez, who will be 36 in June but ran like he was 10 years younger, made the visitors pay for missed chances with an excellent finish in 90+1.
The plan for Jamshedpur FC was to bypass the middle when they had the ball and force Mohun Bagan away from it when they did not. Mohammed Sanan was Jamshedpur FC’s target for the out ball and with seven players in a low block, they blocked all roads to the goal for Mohun Bagan.
The home team had 26.7% possession but four shots on target to Mohun Bagan’s three. Mohun Bagan had eight shots off target, Jamshedpur one. “In front of goal, if we had success, we would have won,” said Mohun Bagan head coach Jose Molina.
Jamshedpur FC’s plan worked till Cummings’s goal. Mohun Bagan looked more rusty than rested and were lucky that referee Ashwin didn’t think the ball hitting Ashish Rai hand was worthy of a penalty. The full house at JRD Tata Sports Complex, 20,968 of them, thought otherwise as did Jamil.
Jamshedpur had caught Mohun Bagan on the break and off a Tom Aldred touch, the ball had rolled into Sanan’s path. Sanan’s shot hit Rai on the chest and then to his outstretched left arm.
There was nothing Mohun Bagan could do when Muhammed Uvais channelled his inner Naushad Moosa and transformed a throw-in into cross. Hemmed in by three players, Stephen Eze still managed a flick and with Liston Colaco ball watching, Siverio nodded home. This was the 20th goal from a set-piece for Jamshedpur.
Only Mohun Bagan have more and they replied with one of their own. Ashutosh Mehta, who, along with Eze and Pronay Halder, had defended stoutly, conceded a free-kick for a foul on Cummings. The Australian’s shot looped and swung away from Albino Gomes into the goal.
Mohun Bagan’s first goal from a direct free kick had them taking charge. Sahal Abdul Samad found Colaco but Greg Stewart could not get to the ball. When he did, having evaded Sourav Das’s attention for once, Gomes flung himself at the Scot’s feet. Then, Thapa drove and Halder swivelled to make the block. In the 69th minute, Bose sneaked in at the far post to meet Samad’s chip but could not keep his stab on target.
With Thapa and Samad compensating for Stewart who looked subdued, Mohun Bagan were in control. Like NorthEast United were on Sunday. Like in Shillong, Jamshedpur FC produced a punch from nowhere. Once again, it was the Ritwik Das-Hernandez combination, the Spaniard running in from deep to fire a winner that never looked like coming. Till it did.
For the second game in running, Jamshedpur have struck with no time left for a comeback. Eze and Mehta will be suspended but belief will not be in short supply when they come to Kolkata.
