A swift counter-attacking move, a brilliant comeback and then an equalizer. The match-up in Delhi surely lived up to its billing as an entertaining encounter between two sides going into this game for extremely varied reasons. Delhi Dynamos needed a win to kick-start their faltering season whereas Jamshedpur FC needed to build momentum after a statement win against FC Goa.
Cesar Ferrando made his intentions clear of going all-out for the win in this one by naming the same side that ripped FC Goa apart. That meant, local boy, Gourav Mukhi was again leading the line for Jamshedpur FC with Sergio Cidoncha playing behind him.
The first 30 minutes in the match proved to be end to end with both sides having a go at each other but just missing the final ball needed to apply the finishing touch. A brilliant counter-attacking move in the 39th minute proved to be the difference between the two sides going into the break.
Starting the move from their own half, Jamshedpur FC surged ahead with numbers. Gourav Mukhi was afforded space on the right with Sergio Cidoncha running through the middle. Mukhi played Cidoncha on and the Spaniard did the needful by beating a defender with ease and then calmy slotting in past Francisco Dorronsoro.
The second-half saw Delhi Dynamos making all three substitutions in one go which proved to be a tactical masterclass from manager, Josep Gombau. Taking the goalkeeper, Dorronsoro out, Delhi brought on two attacking foreign players to change the narrative.
And just as Gombau would have imagined, Delhi crawled back into the game with an equalizer in the 55th minute. Robin Gurung played a horrible back pass which was intercepted by Lallianzuala Chhangte. The winger went past Subrata Paul and slotted the ball in an empty net.
Three minutes later, Adria Carmona took Delhi Dynamos into the lead, heading at the far post from a Chhangte cross. The delivery had taken a deflection off Tiri and fell in the path of the second-half substitute. Suddenly, Jamshedpur FC were behind in the game and were demanded to make a comeback.
Cesar Ferrando threw Mobashir Rahman and Tim Cahill on the field to arrest Dynamos' intentions of a first win of the season. Much to the despair of the home crowd, Tiri scored an equalizer for Jamshedpur FC in the 72nd minute, heading unguarded from the far post to level the matters in the capital.
Both sides tried their luck to find a winner in the final quarter of the game. But it wasn't meant to be as the honours were shared in a tightly contested battle at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
For Jamshedpur FC, their captain, Tiri produced a sensational performance. The centre back delivered a Rolls Royce of a performance in which he commanded brilliantly at the back and then popped up when needed to score a timely equalizer. Jamshedpur FC move to the top of the table with this win and are still unbeaten in the 2018/19 season.
The Men of Steel, after playing 5 games in 15 days, have a fortnight's break before they travel to Pune to face the struggling Stallions.
