Jamshedpur FC were off to a winning start after beating Mumbai City 2-0 in their opening Indian Super League (ISL) season 5 match at the Mumbai Football arena on Tuesday.
Spanish duo, Mario Arques (28th) and Pablo Morgado (90+5) both of whom were making their debuts in the league scored the goals, while Mumbai two cancelled to off-side and that adds up to the plethora of opportunities they missed in a home encounter.
The visitors began well, with young Jerry Mawihmingthanga creating a number of moves playing in the left channel. The first cross he put came in the eighth minute but Arques failed to connect properly, while two minutes later his wonderful one-two pass with Memo before setting Sergio Cidoncha free on goal was a highlight in the opening minutes of the enthralling encounter.
Cidoncha’s attempted bicycle kick though failed to pay off and instead the ball fell to Carlos Calvo, whose shot was deflected away for a corner. Calvo had another chance from the resulting corner but the Spaniard blasted his header over the bar.
Lucian Goian then came close with Mumbai’s first real opportunity in the 22nd minute but failed to keep his header down even as the hosts found it difficult to control the Spanish dominated midfield of Jamshedpur, who took the lead six minutes later.
Arques’s initial shot somehow made its way to Calvo, who found the former with a wonderful cross to head his side into the lead. Tiri then had a header cleared off the line by Mumbai skipper Lucian Goian immediately after the restart.
Mumbai came close to equalising minutes later when Sanju Pradhan found Rafael Bastos with a well-threaded pass in between the Jamshedpur defence. But the Brazilian striker took too long to construct a shot as goalkeeper Subhasish Roy made a diving save.
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Chances soon came flowing thick and fast for Mumbai but once again lack of form in the final third let them down. Goian found Modou —Sougou with a floated ball and for a moment it looked like the Senegalese striker had headed his side level, but Roy pulled off a brilliant save to keep the 1-0 lead intact.
Mohammad Rafique then levelled the scores for Mumbai, getting to the end of Rynier Fernandes’ cross in the 77th minute but was adjudged to be off-side. Another goal from a free-kick in the 85th minute was cancelled to off-side before Jamshedpur added a second in the final minute of stoppage time.
Playing on the counter in the final few minutes of the match Cidoncha released substitute Morgado Blanco down the right flank, who sealed all three points with a debut goal for the club.