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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.
#4 Flop: Mislav Komorski
The Croatian had been a busy man in the evening. On a night when Jamshedpur produced relentless attacks on the NorthEast United FC defence, Komorski stood tall and tried to resist everything that came in his way.
One major task for him was to keep Ogbeche quiet. He tried to do so but couldn’t resist the goal, thanks to a brilliant effort from the Nigerian. There are a few players in this world that could’ve stopped Ogbeche from scoring that one.
Perhaps frustrated from conceding so easily, Komorski elbowed Pablo Morgado, which was completely unnecessary, given the situation of the match. Morgado was running down the middle while the ball was being played at the right flanked. Even if Morgado got the ball, he would face two defenders.
Despite conceding a goal, the game was under NorthEast United FC’s control and one silly mistake from the Croatian changed the complexion of the game. Komorski should’ve shown more maturity at that time.
#3 Hit: Carlos Calvo
When Carlos Calvo was given start by Cesar Ferrando many eyebrows were raised. Given that Michael Soosairaj produced a stellar performance in their last match, it was almost impossible to think he will not get a start.
But Calvo didn’t take much time to prove his doubters wrong. He started making an impact immediately. His darting run through the line and cutting inside the box was lethal and Reagan Singh had to endure a tough time in keeping Calvo under check.
Calvo hit the crossbar immediately after his team conceded a goal. He tried to make an impact every time he got the ball on his feet.
He had to suffer deadly fouls from Jose Leudo and Mato Grgic. But nothing could stop him. His combination with Ogbeche caused headaches for NorthEast United FC defenders.
It looks Jamshedpur have a perfect replacement for Soosairaj. Calvo was substituted later on in the second half, but by then he already earned respects from the opposition.
#2 Flop: Sumeet Passi
Sumeet Passi has been on Indian team radar for quite some time. His performance in SAFF Suzuki Cup recently stole the limelight. He is considered another option to avoid India’s profligacy in opponent’s box.
But Thursday’s performance showed Passi has a long way to go. Ferrando benched Tim Cahill and started with Passi as the lone striker.
The move couldn’t produce results as Jamshedpur, despite putting pressure on the opponent, were largely sloppy on the attacking third, thanks to Passi.
Having two brilliant wingers on his either side, Passi failed to understand the style of play and was often left stranded alone inside the box.
He had little intention to come down and retrieve the ball. Farukh Chowdhary tried to create few chances for him, but Passi couldn’t utilise any of them.
Both Passi and Cahill are ineffective as forwards. So, Ferrando needs to find out a different combination. Maybe he will give Gourav Mukhi – who was back in the squad today after missing the last match – more chance in future.
#1 Hit: Bartholomew Ogbeche
No player has scored more than five goals for NorthEast United FC in a single campaign. Emiliano Alfaro and Nicolas Velez are tied with five.
With his goal on Thursday, Bartholomew Ogbeche has already five goals in only four matches. So the record will surely break this time.
With the form he is into, it is almost impossible for defenders to stop Ogbeche from scoring goals. The Nigerian is a prolific striker. He takes position, gets the ball, tried to find way and score goals. This has become a routine this year. And if you are lucky, you can see some astonishing effort from his feet.
Jamshedpur had to swallow it badly. When Gallego pass was received by Ogbeche, he had three defenders surrounding him, with another one behind preparing for the final tackle. Ogbechhe had fractions of a second to think what he will do.
He received the ball with his right foot, cuts inside and made a U-turn, poked the ball past a hapless Subrata Paul. The bamboozled Jamshedpur defenders had nothing to do but watching the Nigerian’s brilliance.
