Kerala Blasters met Jamshedpur FC at the Tilak Maidan for a clash between the second and the third-best teams in the league this season. Both have been on the up recently and were looking to close the gap to league leaders Mumbai City FC. However, a goal each from Greg Stewart and Sahal Abdul Samad ensured that the points were shared between the two sides.
Jamshedpur had an early penalty shout waved off when Peter Hartley was barged into from behind by defender Marko Leskovic from a set-piece. The Jamshedpur centre-back was involved heavily at the other end during the opening phases, as just minutes after the spot-kick snub, he skied a shot high above the crossbar from the centre of the box.
The Red Miners’ early dominance paid off in the 14th minute when Stewart scored a sensational free-kick, 30 yards away from the goal and in the left half-space. Seeing Prabhsukhan Gill too far to his left, the Scotsman tried and succeeded in catching the custodian off by striking the ball powerful and close to the near post.
Jamshedpur’s lead lasted for 13 minutes. Alvaro Vazquez did all the hard work for the equalizer – the forward spun Hartley, raced clear, and drew a save out of Rehenesh TP – only for Sahal to tap in the rebound from close range. It was then Kerala’s turn to have their penalty shouts waved off by the referee, as a cross from Vazquez hit Laldinliana Renthlei’s arm and went behind for a corner.
Both sides had chances to win the match in the second half. Five minutes after the restart, Vazquez lofted a loose ball over Rehensh, and it bounced off the crossbar and fell to a Jamshedpur player. Late in the game, substitute Ishan Pandita was sent through on goal, but the forward’s effort was saved one-on-one by Gill. The spoils were shared, eventually, and the two teams remained second and third in the table.
