Late drama ensures Jamshedpur rise to third with narrow win over NorthEast Utd

by Chittu Shetty January 6, 2022

An injury-time winner from Ishan Pandita sees Jamshedpur FC secure a 3-2 win over NorthEast United in the 2021-22 Hero Indian Super League 2021-22 at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim.

The result elevates Owen Coyle’s men to third place in the league table, level on points with second-placed Mumbai City FC and leaders Hyderabad FC.

Deshorn Brown (4’) broke the deadlock with an early strike until Jordan Murray (44’) levelled the score with a header. Boris Singh (56’) then sent JFC into the lead with his first-ever goal in the ISL. Brown (90+1’) looked to have secured a draw with a late goal until Ishan Pandita (90+3’) scored the winner deep into injury time.

The match began with the Highlanders grabbing a hold on the proceedings. Deshorn Brown scored his fifth goal of the campaign inside the first five minutes. The striker was fed by Suhair Vadakkepeedika with a penetrating pass and found himself in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. He calmly placed his right-footed shot in the bottom left corner for the early breakthrough goal. A few minutes later, Jordan Murray missed an open goal with a diving header, thus wasting a great chance to score the equalizer.

A few moments later, calls for a penalty were denied by the referee when Provat Lakra seemingly tripped Greg Stewart inside the box. The forward had another chance to score the equalizer but his left-footed shot was parried away by Mirshad Michu. However, the goal finally came from Jordan Murray who leapt the highest to connect with Stewart’s free-kick and head the ball inside the net in the closing stages of the first half.

The Men of Steel carried their momentum from the first half into the second. Within three seconds of the restart, Murray’s shot from the right corner of the box required Michu’s intervention who made a strong save. JFC finally took the lead five minutes before the hour mark following a goal from Boris Singh. The winger latched on to a cut-back from Murray and made no mistake in placing the ball inside an empty goal with his right foot.

Just as five minutes were added for stoppages, Brown scored his second after weaving past the goalkeeper and scoring with immense composure. A couple of minutes later, Ishan Pandita scored the winner, acting as the super-sub yet again. The striker made no mistake in finishing from close range and secured three vital points for his team.

Jamshedpur FC will now await the challenge of SC East Bengal at the Athletic Stadium on Tuesday while NorthEast United has a week’s gap before their meeting with FC Goa at the same venue on Friday.