Punjab FC – 1 (Pulga Vidal 58’)
Jamshedpur FC – 2 (Pratik 41’, Javi H 48’)
New Delhi, January 28, 2024: Punjab FC went down to Jamshedpur FC 1-2 in an exciting fixture of the Indian Super League which was played here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Pratik Chowdhary and Javi Hernandez scored the winning goals for Jamshedpur while Pulga Vidal scored for Punjab FC. The Red Miners moved to third position with 31 points with this win while Punjab remained in ninth with 20 points from 16 matches.
Nikhil Prabhu and Khaimingthang Lhungdim returned to the starting eleven replacing Leon Augustine and Ashis Pradhan as Head Coach Panagiotis Dilmperis continued to make minimum alterations to the formation and line up. Academy graduate Muhammad Suhail .F kept his place from the start while Muheet Shabir remained between the posts. Jamshedpur FC Head Coach Khalid Jamil missed the services of Jordan Murray while Nigerian defender Stephen Eze was named on the bench.
The home side created the better opportunities in the first half, dominating the midfield and creating pressure on Jamshedpur. Albino Gomes bailed out the visitors diving low to save Luka Majcen’s improvised flick after Suhail played a low cross from the right wing. Ricky Shabong’s clean strike from the edge of the box was also saved by the goalkeeper keeping the scores level. The Shers continued to put pressure on the Jamshedpur defence creating a flurry of chances, but could not convert them. They had 10 shots on goal, four of them on target showing their dominance in attack.
Jamshedpur took the lead against the run of play. Pratik Chowdhary rose highest to meet a corner and divert it towards goal capitalising on Goalkeeper Muheet Shabir’s failure to read the flight of the ball.
Jamshedpur doubled their lead three minutes into the second half, capitalising on another mistake by Muheet Shabir. Javi Hernandez closed down the goalkeeper whose attempted clearance hit the Spaniard and found the net.
Punjab responded well after the setback and continued to attack Jamshedpur’s goal. Luka Majcen’s strike from a tough angle was once again saved brilliantly by Albino Gomes. Punjab halved the deficit in the 58th minute from a brilliant strike by Pulga Vidal. The Argentinian’s effort from 30 yards out found the bottom corner giving the goalkeeper no chance. The game was then played only in one half as the visitors were content to defend inside their own half and play in the counter attack. The pressure was not enough to find an equaliser as Jamshedpur managed to see off the rest of the match to win all three points in this crucial encounter.
Punjab FC will face Bengaluru FC in their next fixture on 1st February which will be played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
