Mukhi disappoints but JFC fans ‘paint’ the Furnace red
Jamshedpur, Nov. 1: Gourav Mukhi supporters and Jamshedpur FC fans in large numbers had taken their seats inside the stadium hours before kick-off time and they were greeted to some intense football action when JFC took the ground against FC Goa at JRD Tata Sorts Complex on Thursday. The fans numbering 22,751 were present inside the stadium as Jamshedpur FC registered their biggest win in the history of the club beating FC Goa 4-1.
Members of the Red Miners–official fan base of Jamshedpur FC, were in attendance wearing the JFC jersey. That section of the stadium was red, red and only red.
Gourav Mukhi made his full debut for the Club in front of his home crowd but missed chances to score.
The local lad and darling of the huge fan base, came close to scoring in the ninth minute as he entered the penalty box area but his shot went wide of the post.
Soosai Raj�s goal in the 17th minute of the match put JFC ahead.
The crowd went berserk beating drums and dancing while some of the fans stood up on their chairs with JFC flags in their hands and shouted �Jam ke Khelo Jamshedpur�.
Gourav Mukhi fans, specially from Dhatkidih, were ruing the missed chance by local lad. �I was pretty much sure that Gourav would score today as and when the final 11 was announced. He did get several chances but failed to convert them into goals. He is still young and learning from his team�s big time players. Hopefully, he will learn from the mistakes and improve in the games to follow�, said Rajesh Mukhi, a neighbour of Gourav from Dhatkidih.
FC Goa’s Mourtada scored in the 33rd minute of the match to draw level. Jamshedpur FC and FC Goa competed against each other with both the teams scoring a goal each in the first half.
Hoping for a more intense battle in the second half, the crowd did not budge from the seats and waited patiently for the action to begin after the lemon break.
Soosai Raj, the star of the night, struck again in the 50th minute which made the fans chant his name throughout the match. Memo in the 77th minute and Passi in the 78th minute sealed the match for the hosts as Jamshedpur served FC Goa a taste of their own medicine.
In the 82nd minute of the game when JFC were in the driver’s seat, head coach Cesar Ferrando appealed to the crowd to cheer more loudly and the stadium in near frenzy, did not disappoint. The crowd at the JRD Stadium had switched on its flash lights in the dying moments of the match which made for a scenic setting.
�Soosai Raj has improved his game a lot. After scoring a goal against Kerala Blasters he came back to score two in this match. He is the player to watch out for�, said MBA student Anjan Singh.
