Jamshedpur FC (JFC) leapt to the top of the leaderboard with an authoritative 3-0 victory over Hyderabad FC (HFC) in the Indian Super League (ISL) at Bambolim (Goa) on Tuesday — one that and pushed the latter down to the second spot.
With the win JFC confirmed its place in the semifinals and has 37 points from 18 matches while HFC remains at 35 from 19 encounters.
In one of the most anticipated clashes between two of the best sides in ISL, it was JFC that called the shots for most part of the match. In fact, JFC made light of the absence of its key player — Greg Stewart.
AS IT HAPPENED |
Brazil's midfielder Alexadre Lima was at the heart of all three goals for JFC.
It was his corner kicks that resulted in the team scoring the first two goals in the first half followed by an assist in the second. Surprisngly, HFC appeared pedestrian, unable to make any notable good move and there were no clear shots on target as well.
First, Peter Hartley's header off a corner kick saw the keeper Gurmeet Singh (who made his debut) fist it out with his left hand.
With the ball rushing towards Mobashir Rahman, the 23-year-old unleashed a left-footer that saw two HFC players deflect it; first it hit Sauvik Chakrabarti's leg and then the chest of Chinglensana Singh before finding its way to the net.
JFC doubled the lead 20-odd minutes later when Hartley's header beat the goalkeeper all ends up. Led by the captain Hartley, the JFC defense stood firm thwarting a few half chances created by HFC.
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It was a defensive blunder from HFC that resulted in the third goal. Khassa Camara's poor clearance saw the ball land right at the feet of Lima who passed it to an unmarked Daniel Chukwu who did the rest.
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