The Jamshedpur squad took down the Nizams on their own home turf in their previous game as a 5-goal thriller ended in the Men of Steel’s favor. Despite the hosts taking an early lead, the men in Red and Blue took control of the game before half-time with 3 goals of their own. The defending champions stepped up their attacking force and came through with another late goal to initiate a comeback. But regardless of their efforts, they were held back by the Jamshedpur defence as they took away the winning points for themselves in Hyderabad.
Now the Men of Steel gear up for their next and final clash of the 2022-23 Hero ISL season against Odisha FC at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar.
"They’ve beaten us once at the start but we want to see if we can get revenge on that. We’ll work as hard as we can to get a good result."- stated the Jamshedpur FC Head Coach, Aidy Boothroyd when asked about their final clash of this season.
Their previous clash at the JRD Tata Sports Complex was the season opener for the two sides. Jamshedpur FC had a perfect kick-start to the season as they scored two goals against the Juggernauts within the first 10 minutes of the game in front of their home crowd. Diego Mauricio brought the visitors back with a goal of his own just few moments later. A rainy night in Jamshedpur ended with late drama as the Juggernauts equalised and took the lead in the final moments of the game to be the victorious side out of the two.
Both sides have competed in 11 games against each other out of which Jamshedpur has been the dominant side on the majority of the occasions (7 wins). Out of the 11 fixtures, 2 games have ended with the sides sharing the spoils at the end of the 90 minutes.
As they play their final game of the league stage, Jamshedpur stands on the 10th position with 16 points while Odisha FC clings on to the 6th position with 30 points.
Although the Men of Steel will not qualify for the playoffs this year around, Odisha FC, on the other hand, still have golden opportunity to qualify. Just 3 points above FC Goa in the 7th position, this game is a must win for Juggernauts as they to have to shell out points out of their league stage’s final fixture against Jamshedpur FC, if they want to confirm their spot in the playoffs.
In their last game of the season, the Jamshedpur squad will aim to acquire nothing but a win to end their campaign on a positive note and carry forward the same momentum to the upcoming Hero Super Cup. Along with securing the winning points, the Men of Steel will also want to create problems for Odisha FC and hold them back from qualifying. Aidy Boothroyd’s men will want to avenge the home defeat by not letting the hosts grab the home victory and not allowing them to take a step closer to their playoffs campaign.
Watch Jamshedpur FC take on Odisha FC on the 22nd February, 2023 at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar
