Resurgent Jamshedpur FC score five; put hapless Hyderabad FC to the sword | Indian Super League 2023-24
Daniel Chima Chukwu's stunning bicycle kick grabbed all the headlines as Jamshedpur FC put five goals past a hapless Hyderabad FC defense on Thursday, December 21. The two sides faced off in the Indian Super League 2023 (ISL) at the Maidaan in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad seemed listless all game. They were put to the sword by a ruthless Jamshedpur attack, spurred on by manager Scott Cooper's comments after their previous game against Bengaluru FC.
"A part of football teams and successful ones I've been on, it's not always been (having) the most blessed players, but they have a real desire and a drive to win. And I'm searching for those players in our football club. We've got some, but we don't have enough.
"And with the January transfer window looming, some players should be very concerned,” Cooper had stated in the post-match press conference after 1-0 defeat to Bengaluru.
Cooper had publicly questioned Jamshedpur FC's commitment and desire, and can now be quite pleased with what he saw on Thursday.
As for the Nawabs, things have gone from bad to worse, with their off-field troubles escalating to the field. Their players suffered from a lack of desire to satiate a match-going crowd that seemed to ebb and flow in its support.
The writing seemed to be on the wall for Hyderabad from the start against Jamshedpur
The writing seemed to be on the wall for the Yellow and Blacks from the second minute of the game. Chukwu won an easy header by beating Hyderabad's Nikhil Poojary and Chinglensana Singh and tapped in a goal past Laxmikant Kattimani. The latter made a comeback into the team replacing the highly performing Gurmeet Singh between the sticks.
Jamshedpur central defender Chinglensana Singh then gave Chukwu acres of space in the 20th minute. He found enough time to place an overhead kick at the back of the net with a helpless Kattimani watching on. This goal, quite naturally, became the showstopper of the game.
Hyderabad seemed to be pressing forth in the second half and were on the ascendancy with their passing game. But Len Doungel, coming on for Mohammed Sanan, curled a beautiful ball into the left corner with Kattimani watching on yet again. Poojary was responsible for backing down from pressing him this time around and allowing the Manipuri the space to line his shot.
A Jonathan Moya own goal while clearing a corner added the fourth for Jamshedpur but the Red Miners weren't done for the night. Chukwu continued prowling on the six-yard box and tapped in an easy pass from Nikhil Barla in the 79th minute to get a well-deserved hat trick.
Chinglensana remained one of the few modest enough to seek an apology from the crowd at the end of the game by raising his hands. Hyderabad continue to find themselves at the bottom of the league table and will go into the winter break in the same spot.
Meanwhile, Jamshedpur have moved to the 10th in the league table with nine points. They will now go to Bhubaneswar to play Odisha FC on November 29 in their last game before the break.