Jamshedpur FC lose 2-1 to NorthEast United FC in Indian Super League

Guwahati: In an enthralling Indian Super League encounter at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati, Jamshedpur FC fought valiantly but fell short against NorthEast United FC, with the final scoreline reading 2-1 in favor of the home team.

The first half commenced with both teams showing immense determination. Early on, it was Jamshedpur FC that took the lead after Alen Stevanovic was tripped inside the box. Daniel Chima Chukwu was the man of the moment as he slotted the ball into the net with precision from a rebound after his penalty was saved by the NorthEast United goalkeeper.

Jamshedpur FC had the upper hand during the initial exchanges, and took the lead comfortably into the half-time break.

The second half saw an impressive effort from both sides. However, it was NorthEast United FC that came out the gainers. Despite a valiant effort from the Jamshedpur FC defenders in the entire half, NorthEast United found their equalizer in the 93rd minute as Míchel Zabaco delivered an exquisite right-footed finish from very close range, leveling the score for the home team.

Just minutes later, the home team won a penalty after a lot of commotion in the Jamshedpur FC box. The same was converted by Ibson Melo to give them the lead as Jamshedpur’s players stared at defeat in disbelief.

The Men of Steel will look to get back to winning ways at The Furnace on November 1st when they play Mohun Bagan Super Giant.

We should have scored the second goal and put the game to bed: Scott Cooper

Scott Cooper faced the media after an unfortunate defeat in Guwahati versus NorthEast United FC. Here’s what he had to say in the post-match press conference:

On a frustrating end to the game…

I thought we conceded two goals when the game was over, that’s what I think. Someone explained to me where seven minutes come from if there’s just one water break and one injury. So, for me, we won this game. The referees are trying to explain to me, oh, it was a water break. For how long? An injury, for how long? It wasn’t seven minutes, that’s for sure. So, I don’t know where they got seven minutes from. The first half was three minutes, right, for two injuries and a water break. So, how can it be seven minutes if it’s one injury, and one water break in the second half? I’ll tell you why because they’re feeling the pressure. That’s why. We had some players who let us down in the last few minutes for sure but generally, I don’t think NorthEast caused us any problems at all. They didn’t do anything. They had some possession, some territory but they didn’t do anything. We had a couple of players that fell asleep in injury time, meaning the time added on and that’s where the loss comes from. But, as I said, seven minutes for what? For what? Where were the seven minutes? That one injury, one water break. Seven minutes? You’ve got to be joking with me. So, I don’t know what to say. I think we should have killed the game with the second goal. It always would have been easier and when it gets to that moment, there’s always going to be those slate scrambles and both goals came down from our left channel, their right channel. But we all know NorthEast threats down their left, which we stopped quite often. It’s a hard one to take because I’m disappointed with some players who didn’t defend well at the end. But I don’t think we should have been playing at that moment if I’m honest. I don’t think the game should have even been happening at that moment. So, keeping that injury time aside, are you overall satisfied with the play? Well, yeah, because we had one less day to recover than NorthEast. We had four less than Kerala. We had one less than Hyderabad. We’re going to have another five less than, three less, two less than Mohun Bagan. See the pattern. Why does my team have fewer days of rest? We haven’t had one game yet where we’ve had more rest than the opponents. So, where is the parity in that? Where’s the fairness? Where’s the advantage? It’s not to us. It’s a disadvantage to us. So, you can see how bitter it feels. We come with fewer days of rest and play well. We control the game in terms of the result. It’s in our hands. Not only do we get one day’s less rest, but there’s more added time than anybody can explain to me. So, I don’t understand what’s going on. For me, we’ll play Mohun Bagan next. They already played, so they’re resting too. Same when we went to Kerala. Same when we played Hyderabad. We haven’t had a chance yet to rest more than an opponent we’re playing. But, like you say, injury time aside, am I satisfied? Yeah, because I think North East United didn’t cause us any problems. It was quite basic defending and it kept them out. What you have to do in those situations is score the second goal, and kill the game. That’s what we should have done. We didn’t have enough composure and through balls. We had one through ball that we had a player who just didn’t want to get hurt. So, we pulled out of the through ball because there was a clear chance to take that ball. I can’t give people that type of bravery if it’s not there.

On Motivating the players for the next match…

It’s very difficult because it’s not just that. It’s rest and recuperation, then there is the mental side of things rather than other aspects. We’ve gone from being third in the league with no goals scored against us again, to just… It’s all gone. So, what do I say to the players? There’s not much you can say in this situation, right? I mean, I’m upset, I’m angry with a few of them, for sure. But it won’t do me any good to tell them now because it won’t be delivered properly. And so, we must get back and play again with less rest, thanks to ISL. Thank you for that. Again, less rest. Correct me if I’m wrong, Gaurav, we haven’t had more rest than any team we’ve played yet. Nope. And here’s me thinking, the league is supposed to take care of parity. Where is the parity there? Where is it? I don’t understand. One day’s rest is massive, huh? One more day. When it’s two or three that we’ve been facing, it’s difficult. We just must bounce back. But now we play Mohun Bagan at home. It’s a difficult team, right? It’s a good team. We must take a look at what we did here. But for 93 minutes, it was a controlled, comfortable, defensive performance. That got away from us at the end, down to a couple of defensive neglects which you should know better in the last few minutes. Defensive neglect cost us that. Maybe the referee thought we were time-wasting. But if that’s the case, you show cards to people. We’re not going to be in a rush. We’re winning. So, if now we’re adding time on for teams that aren’t rushing to put the ball back in, let us know. We’ll be playing all night at this rate. Because if you’re winning 1-0, you don’t rush to take a throw-in. You don’t rush to take a free kick. You don’t rush to take a goal-kick. Of course, you don’t. So, are we adding time for that? I don’t know. Nobody told us that. Nobody told the player. No one was cautioned for that. It’s a tough one because you sat there with a win. And it’s not just a win you lost. You lost even a point at the end. It’s a clear penalty, for sure. Both were clear penalties. I can’t grumble about the goals. They’re well-taken goals. I just think from our perspective, they come from the same area. And at a time when the game’s already finished in my mind. It’s difficult. I’m trying not to get myself stressed out about it. Because I think the officials are going to put time on like that. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know what’s happening. Maybe we need to plan for 100 minutes. Maybe we’re still playing at midnight at that rate. I don’t know. I think NorthEast United are very fortunate to have seven minutes extra time to turn that result around. But congratulations to them. Make no mistakes about it, he is a good coach. They’ve got willing players. They didn’t stop trying until the end. You’ve got to give the players credit. They fought right to the end. A lot of players at that moment would have given up.

On the lack of goals scored by Jamshedpur this season…

Tonight, we didn’t create many chances, which is the first time we haven’t created many chances. So, I can’t say we’re missing chances. Tonight, we didn’t create chances because we sat a little too deep and we didn’t take care of it. So, it is a concern. It is a concern. Goals have got to come from somewhere. We can’t keep 1-0-ing, 0-0-ing teams, right? You can see defensively we’re strong, but… One of the things. But we do need goals. It’s got to come from someone. So, someone’s got to step up. We’ve got players that have got goals all over the CV. So, they need to do it, right?