ISL 2018-19, NorthEast United FC 1-1 Jamshedpur FC: 5 Hits and Flops of the match
Ten-man NorthEast United FC were held at home 1-1 by Jamshedpur FC at Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati on Thursday evening.
The game was expected to be a mouth-watering affair, given the two teams attacking approach in the previous matches.
NorthEast United FC are witnessing their best start in Indian Super League and they have maintained their unbeaten record against Jamshedpur also. The draw lifts them on top of the table, but they have played one more match.
Jamshedpur FC, the better side on the night with their attacking mentality, had to be content with one point, despite having a man advantage for the entire second half. They are also unbeaten in this edition after four matches.
NorthEast United FC coach Eelco Schattorie didn’t tinker with his line-up that defeated Chennaiyin FC a week ago.
But the line-up of Jamshedpur raised quite a few eyebrows. Tim Cahill, Sergio Cidoncha, Michael Soosairaj, Jerry Mahwmingthanga all were omitted from the starting line-up. Jerry didn’t find a place in the entire squad even.
NorthEast United FC attacked right from the start and deservedly got the opener through none other than Barthalomew Ogbeche.
Before the half-time, NEUFC’s Mislav Komorski elbowed Jamshedpur’s Pablo Morgado. The referee initially blew the whistle for a foul, but after consulting with his assistant, he showed a straight red card to Komorski. This is the first straight red card this season and second overall after ATK’s Sena Ralte.
Reduced to 10-men, NorthEast United FC suffered further blow when Farukh Chowdhary equalised after the start of the second half.
NorthEast United FC tried to maintain their defensive solidity with couple of changes and finally managed a point, much to the delight of the capacity crowd.
Let us look at the hits and flops of the game:
#5 Hit: Federico Gallego
The Spaniard has always come out when the team needed him. Thursday was no aberration as Fernando Gallego put up a spirited performance for his team to earn a draw for his side.
He takes a lot of workload. Whenever he is without the ball, he tries to come down to defence and help his teammates. He tries to support the attackers with the ball, gives them room to play. He chips on either side and loves to use the wider space.
Gallego always tries to keep his game simple. He never goes missing, tries to track people at the back and takes position beautifully when the team is attacking.
During his team’s goal, the ball deflected to Arques, who was dispossessed by Gallego even before he controlled the ball. Gallego’s clever pass calmly used by Ogbeche.