ISL 2022: Jamshedpur will take on Kerala in the second leg of the semi-finals, eyes will be on the final
Football
By-Vineet Kumar
new Delhi. Jamshedpur FC will face a challenge to revive their chances of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2021-22 final by holding on to Kerala Blasters when both the teams prepare for the first semi-final to be played at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco da Gama on Tuesday. Will fight in the second phase. In the first match of the two-leg semi-final, Kerala beat League Shield winners Jamshedpur 1-0 with a goal from Sahal Abdul Samad. But Kerala coach Ivan Vukomanovic knows very well that Jamshedpur can bounce back anytime with all their might.
Jamshedpur not only captured the League Shield for the first time but also made it to the semi-finals for the first time, breaking some records with 43 points from 20 matches. It has been a great season for the Men of Steel and coach Owen Coyle would like his team to forget the result of the first leg and focus on the next match.
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Koel said on the eve of the match, “We will not change our approach. Everyone who watches Jamshedpur knows that we go to win every match. If we have to go to the final, we have to win this match. So we have to score goals. We will have the same approach as it was against ATK Mohun Bagan, that was the match we had to win to ensure we grab the Shield. We respect our opponents and we know how good they are. We will try And we will give our best. We were hurt by Friday night’s loss, which broke our winning streak. Now we want to reach the finals.”
Jamshedpur had won seven matches in a row before losing to Kerala. Daniel Cheema Chukwu missed two golden chances in the first leg match while Greg Stewart had a bad day. But Coach Koel will expect the two forwards to score as they need a goal.
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On the other hand, Sahal’s goal for Kerala came on the spot. It has been a memorable season for Sahal and he is joint second among Indian scorers with six goals. He is just two goals behind Liston Colaso, who has scored eight goals so far in the season. Ruiva Hormipam is handling the defense of Kerala firmly. The 21-year-old centre-back has had a successful season. Hormipam, along with Marko Leskovic in the first leg, did not allow Jamshedpur to play freely in the final third.
Coach Ivan Vukomanovic said, “We don’t even look at our last match, that lead won’t give any guarantees. Tomorrow is a new match that we have to focus on and 1-0 from the last match won’t give us anything, We will start like 0-0. It will be more difficult than last match.”
Story first published: Monday, March 14, 2022, 22:46 [IST]
