After grabbing the victory in a dominating performance against the Gaurs, Jamshedpur geared up for an intense clash against Hyderabad FC in their first home game of the season at the Athletic stadium, Bambolim.
The game began with high energy on the pitch as both sides stepped up to the pitch with the aim of winning their second consecutive game. Both sides unleashed high-paced attacks as Dinliana took a strong shot in the opening moments of the game from the right corner of the box, but it was blocked away by the defence of Hyderabad FC. The Hyderabad side almost conceded a goal in the 20th minute mark of the game when Greg Stewart won the ball in the midfield and ran towards the goal (beating the defence) and took a shot on goal, but the ball deflected off the inside of the right post and went for an outside; the Jamshedpur players couldn’t believe their luck as they missed the opportunity to take the lead by inches.
With the missed opportunity to take the lead, Jamshedpur stepped up their attacking game and threatened the Hyderabad defence with attacks from the middle and the right wing of the park, but were inches away from finding the back of the net. Just as the game entered its last 5 minutes of the first half, the Men of Steel took the lead that they pushed for with a brilliant goal from the Scottish midfielder, Greg Stewart. Greg received the ball on the left corner of the box and dribbled past the defenders beautifully to end the play with a top corner finish into the back of the net. The Scottish Premiership winner showed his unreal quality and rewarded his side with the lead as the first 45’ minutes came to an end with Jamshedpur in the lead with a goal.
With a slim lead, Jamshedpur kicked off the second half and kept the momentum going to get another goal to up their lead and get into a comfortable position in the game. Even Hyderabad stepped up their attacks to get back into the game and were successful in doing the same as they scored the equalising goal, 10 minutes into the second half.
One of the top scorers of the Hero Indian Super League, Ogbeche came through to score after a one-two passing with Hyderabad Captain, Joao Victor, and beat Narender in the defence to place the ball cleanly into the right corner. Rehenesh, whose vision was blocked by Eli Sabia in the defence who was looking to block the shot, was unable to dive to block the ball away; it led to Hyderabad FC being back in the game. Hyderabad switched to attacking mode right after earning their equalising goal as they took over the ball possession and more movement towards the Jamshedpur end.
With some changes to the squad, the Men of Steel knocked the door in the Hyderabad FC box once again but the defenders were on their toes the whole time which helped them deal with the attacks on every occasion, thus keeping the score at 1-1.
Despite the intense second half of football between the two sides, the ball did not end at the back of the net, thus concluding the night in a draw. Even though the match ended in a draw for Jamshedpur, they walked out undefeated against Hyderabad FC in the #HeroISL as well as at the Athletic stadium, Bambolim. With this result, Jamshedpur FC are now unbeaten in their last 5 #HeroISL fixtures (including last 2 ISL matches of last season).
