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Jamshedpur FC stroked two goals past a rather tight-knit Shillong Lajong FC defence to win their final group B game in the Kalinga Super Cup at the Kalinga Stadium Pitch One in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
Lajong kept a clean sheet up until the dying stages of the first half when young Jamshedpur forward Mohammed Sanan netted one past goalkeeper Bishal Lama's arms.
Sanan continued his exponential rise to the top echelons of Indian football, and on Saturday, he showcased exactly why he is so highly rated.
He sent in the cross that found Semboi Haokip in the 74th minute which ultimately sealed the deal for the Red Miners.
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Jamshedpur FC will face East Bengal in the semifinal
Lajong looked like coming close to breaking the deadlock in the first half but Jamshedpur marked their attackers tightly to make sure that they could not move forward without infringing a law or two.
The side from Meghalaya were cheered on by a handful of supporters who turned up from the northeastern state at an otherwise empty venue in Bhubaneswar. Seeing the funnier side of things, this correspondent was taught a chant or two as well.
Lajong's foreign attacker Douglas Tardin was the target of a lot of long balls in the first half, but unfortunately, he could not quite get on the end of it.
He seemed strong in possession but at times it appeared as if the final product that could have allowed Lajong to create an upset was lacking.
Lajong were good in most pockets of the game and it appeared as if they managed to deceive the Red Miners in the heart of midfield, which prompted the latter's head coach Khalid Jamil to bring on Jeremy Manzorro in the second half, ostensibly to cool things down.
This win- Jamshedpur's third in a row- gives them immense confidence going into the semifinal of the Kalinga Super Cup, in which they are slated to play against East Bengal, who are fresh on the back of a chest-thumping derby win over their nemesis Mohun Bagan on Friday.
