Jamshedpur FC's campaign in the Hero Indian Super League 2021-22 ended after they split honours with Kerala Blasters FC in the second semi-final at Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco da Gama, Goa, on Tuesday evening.
Kerala played out a 1-1 draw, but rode on two top-draw defensive displays to pip the League Shield winners 2-1 on aggregate over two legs and qualify for their first final since 2016.
The Men of Steel were decimated by injuries and ran out of players which dashed their dreams of making it to the maiden finals of the cash-rich tournament. The only consolation was the League Shield.
Adrian Luna (18th) drew first blood for Kerala with a stunning goal before Pronay Halder (50th) pulled one back for the Red Miners who needed one more goal to take the game to extra time. But another solid performance by the Kerala backline ensured they held firm to confirm a place in the summit clash.
In the first leg, Sahal Abdul Samad scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for Kerala who made it to their third Hero ISL final. They were the finalists in the inaugural 2014 edition as well.
The Tuskers started the second leg without the injured Sahal but showed no signs of slowing down. They came close to taking the lead within the first two minutes. Had Alvaro Vazquez not tried to be cheeky when one-on-one with the keeper, dinking the ball over T.P. Rehenesh in the Jamshedpur goal and wide off the far post, the story could have been different.
Four minutes later, Vazquez got possession deep inside his own half to then set up Ayush Adhikari but Rehenesh was alert to the danger, coming out of his line in time. Kerala found a lot of joy as Jamshedpur full-backs pushed forward leaving a lot of space for their rivals to exploit.
Adhikari got another chance from a Jorge Diaz cross but Jamshedpur skipper Peter Hartley put his body on the line to snuff out the danger. Vazquez atoned for his miss earlier in the half soon after, flicking on a delightful pass from the left flank for Luna who darted in, dropped a shoulder and curled a side-footed effort past Rehenesh and into the right corner.
After the cooling break, Daniel Chima Chukwu thought he had pulled Jamshedpur back in the game but his stab from close was ruled offside, albeit belatedly after the referee keept his flag down initially.
Prabhsukhan Gill was then at fault for the Kerala goal as he punched a Greg Stewart free-kick over his head with all Jamshedpur players surrounding him, but eventually, the referee blew the whistle for a foul, much to the keeper's relief. At the break, Kerala led 2-0 on aggregate. Five minutes into the restart, Halder nicked one in to get Jamshedpur back in the game, poking in a Stewart corner which was initially met by Chima whose header lacked power and fell to Halder who netted from two yards out.
“We have won the League Shield and we gave our hearts trying to get the double and play the finals. We failed to take it to extra-time or to win the game. Kerala had some great chances on counter-attacks and it was always going to happen considering the number of players we committed forward", said Jamshedpur head coach Owen Coyle.
“But, the team kept pushing and we got a few very close things in the second half. So, we are obviously disappointed to be out of the competition. That being said, we had an amazing season. We were the best team after 20 games and won the league by five points,” he continued.
On reasons for loss, he said : “We ran out of players, I had no wide players. Greg (Stewart) had to start wide, so these things happen in football. I would give Kerala the credit, they have good players and are a great team. I wish them good luck. The two teams competing to play against them are two wonderful teams.”
