The Men of Steel’s game against Hyderabad FC saw the Jamshedpur squad walking out victorious out of a 5-goal enthralling game at the G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium. Goals from Ritwik Das, Chima Chukwu and JET gave the Jamshedpur side the well-deserved win over the Nizams.
The first 10 minutes saw both teams looking for an early opener with Jamshedpur coming close to scoring but were held back by the compact Hyderabad defence. On the other end, the hosts found the early lead that they yearned for. A corner kick set-piece was nodded in by the former Golden Boot Winner, Bart Ogbeche. Jamshedpur custodian got his hand on the headed attempt but was unable to completely parry it away to safety.
Just 10 minutes later, the Men of Steel came through with the equaliser. Harry Sawyer passes it down to Boris Singh on the right wing who lobs the ball deep into the box. A flying Ritwik won the header to put the ball into the back of the net to register his 5th goal of this season and bring the visitors right back into the mix.
The Men in Red took the lead just 5 minutes later from a spot kick. A headed attempt by Harry met with Ogbeche’s hand within the box which awarded Jamshedpur a penalty. JET stepped up to the occasion and converted from the spot into the bottom corner to take the host to an advantageous position in the game.
The Jamshedpur attacking squad were not done yet as further extended their lead just moments later, thanks to a stunning chip from Chima Chukwu. Harry Sawyer directs the ball forward with a header towards Chima who beats his marker with the first touch. The top-scorer for Jamshedpur FC sees the Hyderabad custodian off his line and dinks the ball over the goalkeeper to make it 3 for the Men of Steel.
The Jamshedpur-dominated first half came to a close with the visitors with a comfortable lead over the defending champions of the Hero ISL.
The second period kicked-off in the Nizam’s favour as they came through with refreshed energy to make their comeback. Jamshedpur took a blow as a challenge from Eli Sabia on Hyderabad’s forward, Siverio during a counter-attack led to the official giving the skipper his marching orders.
The 10-man Jamshedpur side switched to a defensive approach and parked the bus to keep the Nizams from making a succesful comeback. The Hyderabad attacking squad stepped up their game and unleashed a barrage of attacks to earn their way back in their game.
A handball inside the box from Ricky gave the host a chance to reduce the scoreline through a penalty. Hyderabad’s Joao Victor stepped up to the spot but is denied by Vishal Yadav with a strong diving save to keep the Nizams from coming back in the game.
Right before the game entered its final 10 minutes, Ogebeche netted in his second goal of the night to keep his side alive in their last league stage of the game.
Hyderabad FC did everything in their power to make the score level before the full-time whistle went off but were held back by the resilient Jamshedpur defence. An intense game at the G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium ended with Jamshedpur FC taking all points after putting forth a strong performance against the title defenders, Hyderabad FC.
