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As the second International break came to an end, ISL action resumed on the pitch as FC Pune City played host to Jamshedpur FC at the Chhatrapati Sports Complex in hopes of climbing up from the bottom half of the table.
Pune City, who were struggling to find form in this season of the ISL, were coming on the back of a 1-0 loss on their last visit to ATK on November 9. Also missing for Pune was the presence of their prolific striker Emiliano Alfaro, who joined ATK on a loan deal to replace the injured Kalu Uche. The good news for Pune going into this match was the availability of Diego Carlos, who was returning to the squad after serving a 3-match ban.
Pune were looking forward to welcoming back Iain Hume to the squad after Alfaro's departure. The Canadian, out of action because of a knee injury, was signed as the eighth foreigner for Pune. He was able to join the squad only after Alfaro was loaned out as a team can register only seven foreigners.
On the other hand, Jamshedpur FC were looking to better their position on the table, especially after their 2-2 draw at the capital. Having played their last match on the 4th of November, the men of steel had a lot of time off before taking the field. Jamshedpur came to Pune in the absence of their marquee signing Tim Cahill, who was due to join the team after his farewell match for the Socceroos.
Also absent for Jamshedpur was Spanish midfielder Sergio Cidoncha, who was not available for selection.
Both sides looked to put forward their best possible combination on the field and were hopeful of getting a positive result at the end of the game.
Pune scored first, quickly followed by JFC’s equaliser. The game saw no goals in between until the 86th Minute when Matt Mills got his head on the ball to score the winner.
Here are the 5 Talking Points from the Game -
#5 No Soosairaj in the starting line-up
If JFC had to line up three best players for them this season, Micheal Soosairaj would definitely make it to the list. The ex-Chennai City man has been in scintillating form this season, both in creating and scoring goals.
In the absence of someone like Cahill, one would have imagined JFC to start with Farukh Choudhary and Soosai upfront with Mario Arques and Carlos Calvo in the supporting midfield. But Caser Ferrando went with Jerry and Sumeet Passi.
Throughout the match, JFC had created a fair amount of chances and looked to have a slight edge in their passing and attacking over Pune City FC. The presence of a certain Soosairaj would have definitely given them a greater edge over the Pune side.
Soosairaj, who warmed the bench for the first 68 minutes of the game came on for Pablo Morgado, and could not make an impact on the game.
#4 Sumeet Passi handed start, scores
JFC vs Pune City became a momentous occasion as it saw two of the most trolled footballers of Indian football - Sumeet Passi and Robin Singh - start the game for their side.
Passi came in as a surprise in the starting XI as one would have expected him to come on as a substitute in the later stages of the game. But to be really fair, Passi had a decent game. He scored the only goal for JFC, thanks to a lunging header off a brilliant cross from Carlos Calvo.
People can argue on the sluggish Pune defence and that the ball could have been defended better but Passi came up with a brilliant finish to see the ball on the back of the net via a picture-perfect header.
But then, Passi also had a couple of those “he could have done better moments” in the match, the most prominent one being a strike just in front of the goal, which was saved by the Pune goalkeeper. A calmer finish on that ball would have seen JFC bag three points from the game and that can be said about a few more of his touches during the match.
On the brighter side, Passi, who was also on the bench for the Indian Team that travelled to Jordan, would get a real boost out of the goal especially, before the Asian Cup where he more or less could make the final squad.
#3 Hume back for Pune
Iain Hume made the much-awaited appearance in the game at the 62nd minute for Pune, replacing Robin Singh who had just tossed a glorious chance in front of goal. Pune were eagerly waiting for Hume to take the field as he was out from the starting of the season owing to a knee injury.
Despite missing out on the action, Hume looked to be in perfect form with his initial touches of the game. His runs upfront also made the JFC defenders work for their money. Even though Hume couldn’t make an impact in the short span of time that he was on the field, he was successful in engaging the JFC backline and provide Pune with some attacking liberty.
Pune would be really happy to have Hume back in the line-up and especially after this win, they would really hope for things to turn in their favour in the league.
#2 Pune’s Attack from Outside the Box
Even though Jamshedpur enjoyed much of the possession in the match, Pune were quick to capitalize on the chances that they received, especially a number of them from outside of the box. At the first blow of the whistle, JFC looked to crowd Pune’s defence but at the 5th-minute mark, Pune made one run at the attack and converted it into a goal, thanks to a shot from outside the box by Diego Carlos.
Even though the run didn’t look all that threatening, Carlos was inch perfect with his shot that went straight through the legs of Tiri and passed a diving Subrata Paul on his right.
Then after, Pune again came close to scoring from outside the box twice after Marcelinho cut through the JFC defence on the left and put the shot on the target only to be denied by a resilient Subrata Paul. The other one came from Ashique Kuruniyan, who bolted a thundering strike to hit the crossbar, again from outside of the box.
Pune would be hoping that this is a sign for better things to come for them this season.
#1 First defeat for Jamshedpur
Jamshedpur would be really disappointed with themselves for not being able to salvage the 3 crucial away points on their trip to Pune, who can be considered the weaker opponents.
Jamshedpur looked good on the field for the first 20 minutes of the game and came close to scoring on a number of occasions but in the end, failed to capitalise on any. After that, they failed to grasp the rhythm and made a number of errors for which they will be kicking themselves. The match was more of Jamshedpur’s loss than Pune’s win.
With that loss, Jamshedpur faced their first defeat of the season and now have to work really hard to keep up the competition for the top 4. They have also played more matches than the others and that opens up the league for all at this point.
They will also be hoping to not make the same mistake as last season where they lost out on easier away games like these. Jamshedpur next face Chennaiyan FC at home and they would be looking at nothing less than a win there.
