Jamshedpur FC tasted their first loss of the season, courtesy of a late winner from FC Pune City's Matt Mills. The Stallions, playing at their home incidentally registered their first victory of the campaign with a 2 - 1 margin.
Diego Carlos put Pune into the lead in the fifth minute before Sumeet Passi headed in his second goal of the season to level matters at the Balewadi Stadium. The first half proved to be an entertaining affair with both sides going hammer and tongs to go ahead. Two goals came in the first 10 minutes of the match and there were number of chances for both the sides to go up before the break.
Jamshedpur FC came into this game without the services of Sergio Cidoncha and Tim Cahill with the latter being present in Australia to play his farewell match. But despite having key men out of action and going behind after just five minutes, Jamshedpur FC showed great conviction to dominate possession and reply back with a goal instantly.
In the 10th minute, Carlos Calvo found some space on the left and delivered a pinpoint cross to Sumeet Passi who was positioned at the right place at the right time to head home the equalizer. It was a striker's finish from the Indian international to level it up in Pune. Earlier, Diego Carlos had given the Stallions a lead through an effort from outside the box.
Second half saw both the sides searching for that elusive winning goal, but the game failed to reach the levels of the first half. Chances were hard to come by as both the sides lacked composure and vision in the final third. Cesar Ferrando threw Farukh Choudhary and Michael Soosairaj on to change the proceedings, but the Indian duo failed to make a mark.
The Men of Steel were heading towards their sixth draw of the season before FC Pune City won a corner in the 86th minute. Matt Mills was left unmarked in the box who headed home the winner from the resulting set-piece.
Once again, it was the defensive lapses from the Jamshedpur FC defenders that made it easy for the Stallions to open their 2018/19 account. It was Tiri who failed to close down Diego Carlos for the first goal whereas it was a collective mistake to leave Matt Mills unmark for the second and the winning goal.
Cesar Ferrando's men will need to pick themselves up after this loss and ready themselves as the defending champions, Chennaiyin FC come to the Furnace next on November 25.
