The Men of Steel returned to Tilak Maidan for a home game against Mumbai City FC for the 100th fixture of the 2020-21 season. After a disheartening loss against the league topper, ATK Mohun Bagan, in the previous fixture, Jamshedpur geared up to finish the season strong with as many points as possible in the remaining 2 fixtures of the final phase of the league stage. The two teams went head-on to grab the essential 3 points to climb up the table.
Mumbai City FC won the toss and chose their preferred side for the first-half as Jamshedpur took the 100th game of the season underway. The first few moments came with opportunities for Jamshedpur with a couple of freekicks from the left flank, but no freekick set-piece turned out to be beneficial for the hosts. A close call came for Jamshedpur after a freekick from Isaac into the box, deflected off the defence and landed on Len’s foot, who attempted a half volley. Unfortunately, the attempt went wide as the Islanders defence seemed disoriented.
Jamshedpur came with a number of attacks before the drinks break as they threatened the Mumbai City backline multiple times. However, they were unable to finish the final pass into the net. Jamshedpur were all over the Islanders as they dominated the first half with numerous corner set-pieces and crosses. Isaac and Valskis were lurking threats for the Mumbai defence with crosses into the Mumbai City box, where Valskis waited to finish the aerial and grounded passes into the net. However, he was unsuccessful to get the perfect touch on the ball. The skipper of the Islanders, Amrinder Singh, almost gave Jamshedpur a goal as he dived to grab the ball but struggled to get full control over it. While the ball rolled away from the skipper’s gloves to Len’s feet, the latter tried to make the best out of the goalkeeper’s blunder and put the ball into an open net, but the threat was averted as Len committed a foul on the opposition’s defence while trying to win the ball. And that’s how a strong Jamshedpur FC’s first half came to an end with them raining down attacks to get the lead over Mumbai City FC.
The second 45’ kicked off as Mumbai City upped their attacking intensity, looking to score a goal to get the momentum going and get back to winning ways, with more ball possession and control over the game after a goalless half. Both sides seemed determined to get the lead over the other as the intensity kept building up play-by-play. Jamshedpur received a series of corners in the second half as they looked to score from a corner set-piece which they have done on multiple occasions. As the game entered its final 30 minutes, tides changed as Jamshedpur took the lead which they worked so hard for. Aitor took a low corner kick to which Farukh gave a back heel touch towards the goal, which was saved by Amrinder Singh. However, the ball deflected away and the latest signing, Boris, who got subbed in just a few minutes earlier, tapped the ball in at the near post which the goalkeeper could not block away and that’s what made Boris the super-sub for the game. Boris with his first ever goal for Jamshedpur FC, gave the squad the much needed breakthrough.
Jamshedpur FC after scoring the opening goal, came through with even more attacks to extend their lead over Mumbai City with just a few minutes left for the final whistle. As the game looked like it would end as a win with one goal to nil for the Men of Steel, they baffled the visitors with another goal in the final minutes of the game with yet another super-sub scoring for the team. David Grande who got subbed in a few plays prior, scored another late goal for Jamshedpur which secured the victory over the Islanders. A wonderful tiki-taka tactic by Aitor and Isaac disoriented the Mumbai City defence, after which Aitor passed the ball ahead into the box to where David Grande made his run. With a wonderful first touch, David comfortably placed the ball into the left corner, taking Jamshedpur to the 2-0 lead in the extra time.
Mumbai City still did not lose hope as they continued attacking towards the Jamshedpur box. The first significant shot on target came for the Islanders with Ogbeche pulling the trigger to try and bring back the team into the game, but TP Rehenesh came to rescue with a quick dive as he tipped the ball away to safety, hence maintaining another clean sheet to his record. Jamshedpur totally stunned Mumbai City FC after a dominating performance tonight, both defensively and offensively.
And that’s how the 100th fixture of the ISL became a memorable night for Jamshedpur as they not only overpowered the Islanders to grab the 3 winning points but also managed to keep their qualification hopes alive.
