ISL 2018-19: FC Pune City 2-1 Jamshedpur FC – Hits and Flops
The international break finally brought some fortune for FC Pune City. The club, which was languishing at the bottom of the ISL table, finally registered its first win against one of the strongest team this season, Jamshedpur FC. Pune City won by 2-1 at their home stadium in Balewadi Complex on Wednesday.
The game was a dramatic affair right from the start. Both teams had chances and ultimately it was Pune who got the better of their mighty opponent. With this win, Pune climbed up to the eighth position of the league table with five points from eight matches. Jamshedpur, who had their first loss of the campaign remained on fourth with 11 points from the seven matches as well.
Diego Carlos scored in the fourth minute to get the lead for Pune. What a comeback it was for the Brazilian! He was banned for stamping Seriton Fernandes in their match against FC Goa. He was shown a straight red card and later was suspended for two more matches with a fine of rupees two-lakh.
He was back against Jamshedpur and scored using his brilliant skills. He dribbled past couple of defenders before shooting on the low corner and Jamshedpur custodian Subrata Paul had no chance to save. However, Jamshedpur got back into the game in the 10th minute when Sumeet Passi headed from Carlos Calvos’s corner.
The winning goal came from the experienced English veteran Matt Mills when he headed from a corner in the 86th minute to earn all three points for his club. The game also saw the return of Iain Hume who was sidelined due to injury. The Canadian made his first appearance in this season.
Let us look at the hit and flop players of the match:
Flop: Gurtej Singh
The Pune City captain was definitely the worst player of the night. He failed to mark the opponent players which eventually led his team to concede. Later in the second half, he almost scored an own goal during a wrong clearance, which fortunately hit the post and went wide.
Just before Jamshedpur's equaliser, Carlos Calvo was doing his tricks on the left flank. Sumeet Passi was slowly making way inside the box. Gurtej had all the time to mark the striker. He didn’t. As a result, Passi had no trouble in putting the ball in. He himself was surprised to see how he scored so easily.
Gurtej failed to get his defensive duties on more than one occasion. He failed to clear a ball late in the second half when the goalkeeper was not in his position. Fortunately, the ball went wide.