JFC snatch late winner in first-leg

They were beaten in the first leg of the league stage and managed a 1-1 draw in front of the home crowd in the return leg. But Khalid Jamil's Jamshedpur FC lit up JRD Tata Sports Complex on Thursday with a 2-1 late winner from skipper Javi Hernandez against Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the first leg of their Indian Super League (ISL) semifinals.
Jose Molina's Shield winners came in as the favourites on the day, especially with Jamshedpur's disappointing season at home. But Jamil and his men came out on top with their grit and rigour as Javier Siverio got them the opener in the 24th minute. While Bagan showed their might in the field to get a spectacular equaliser from Jason Cummings 13 minutes later, the Red Miners' defence kept Bagan's quest for the winner at bay only to swoop past them with a 91st-minute winner from Spanish midfielder to earn the crucial lead ahead of Monday's second leg in Kolkata.
Jamil's 4-3-2-1 combination — bringing in Siverio upfront with Jordan Murray — worked well for the hosts as they dominated the first 20 minutes at JRD Tata Sports Complex with the Shield champions taking their time to find their rhythm.
And it got them the breakthrough in the 24th minute with Jamshedpur's high reliance on long throws — that earned them the Stephen Eze opener against NEUFC in the playoffs — paying off once again. Eze was once again in the thick of things as Muhammad Uvais's long throw grazed the back of the Nigerian's head to end up in front of the goal and within the reach of Siverio, who turned it in with his head to the frustration of the Bagan defenders and Vishal Kaith under the bar.
The 35th minute foul on Cummings by Ashutosh Mehta, that earned the defender a yellow card and the predicament of missing the second leg, seemed to have egged the Australia international striker on.
It was just two minutes later that Cummings made the strong away support at the Jamshedpur venue in raptures as he swirled a beauty of a free-kick into the top right corner of the net, leaving the diving Albino Gomes with no chance for a save. It was world-class set-piece that had the pace, whip and dip to earn Bagan the equaliser.
The scoreline stayed level even at the change of ends but Molina's wards came back with more determination to find the winner. While Greg Stewart's shot at goalmouth, from an Anirudh Thapa pass led to a superb save from Gomes, Thapa's solo attempt from the box failed to beat the Jamshedpur defence.
As Bagan began growing more into the game, Jamil went for an early substitution by bringing in Tachikawa in place of Siverio, who had just received a yellow on a tackle from behind on Stewart, in the 55th minute.
The coach's tactic did put a brake on Bagan's barrack of attacks, it did not change the run of play as the Bagan attack, led by Cummings, Stewart, Liston Colaco, Thapa and Sahal Abdul Samad, could not be dissuaded from controlling the match with Jamshedpur trying their luck on the counters and with the long balls.
It was Bagan with the passes, crosses and moves upfront but the Jamshedpur wall did not cave in.
The narrative only changed in the first minute of injury time when a long cross from the back reached Ritwik Das on the left wing, who sent in a cross in the middle, just outside the box, that led the veteran Hernandez to rush and send in a shot that powered past the Bagan defence.
While the job remains half done for Jamil's outfit with the challenge of maintaining the lead away in front of Bagan's huge home support knocking their doors, an overall win after the match in Kolkata will take Jamil coach to yet another milestone of becoming the first Indian coach in the ISL final.