Bambolim, Dec 6: ATK Mohun Bagan slumped to another defeat, this time against Jamshedpur FC as the Men of Steel defeated the Mariners by 2-1 at the GMC Athletic Stadium on Monday.
Former FC Goa man, Seminlen Doungel opened the scoring for Owen Coyle’s men with a sublime finish before substitute Alexandre Lima scored the winning goal in the 84th minute. ATKMB defender, Pritam Kotal pulled one back in the closing stages of the game.
The win took Jamshedpur to second place as they extended their unbeaten streak in the ongoing season.
Ashutosh Mehta and Sumit Rathi made their way into the starting lineup for ATK Mohun Bagan. As for Jamshedpur FC, Peter Hartley started the game against the Mariners with Pronay Halder also taking the field and Alex Lima starting from the bench.
Owen Coyle fielded a 4-4-2 formation while Antonio Lopes Habas chose his tried and tested 3-4-3 formation.
As the match started, Eli Sabia straightaway went into the referee’s book by getting a yellow card in the fourth minute. At the stroke of the 33rd minute, Amrinder Singh saved a powerful left-footed low curling shot from Greg Stewart from the right flank.
Moments later, Seiminlen Doungel found space on the edge of the box at the right flank and made no mistake in hitting the ball past Amrinder’s right side to give JFC the lead.
Roy Krishna looked to have scored the equaliser in the 40th minute. His shot from a narrow-angle escaped TP Rehenesh’s grip and was rolling inside the goal but Eli Sabia was quick to react and cleared the ball from the line.
Just before half-time, Boris Singh replaced the goal scorer Doungel who had to leave the pitch after suffering an ankle injury.
Roy Krishna received a yellow card for a challenge on Hartley which left the latter in some pain.
The second half got off to a cagey start with both teams struggling to create clear scoring chances.
At the hour mark, Habas brought on Prabir Das for Rathi and David Williams for McHugh to instill energy and fresh legs on the pitch.
A brilliant volley from Jitendra Singh on the 67th minute mark was blocked bravely by an ATKMB defender.
There was a huge controversy on the stroke of 73rd minute after Pronay Halder brought down Hugo Boumous who was marauding towards the goal unchallenged. He got a yellow card for the offence and Boumos also received a yellow card for pushing Halder in retaliation for the tackle.
Stewart and Rehenesh then received yellow cards for causing unnecessary delay in the proceedings.
Alex Lima took his place on the pitch from the bench, replacing Stewart and the Brazilian scored within seconds after entering the field.
A left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty box towards the left side of Amrinder gave the latter no chance of saving it.
Later, goalkeeper TP Rehenesh made a good save of a cross from the left flank inside the box but his clearance hit Ashutosh Mehta. Pritam Kotal lunged ahead to put the ball inside the back of the net. JFC appealed for an offside but the referee awarded the goal.
Jordan Murray and Narender Gahlot also made short cameos from the bench before the final whistle. Owen Coyle’s men defended their lead resolutely and secured an important win over last year’s runners-up.
(With Inputs From PTI)
By Shivam Urkude || Earth Indian
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