Mohun Bagan Super Giant breezed past Jamshedpur FC 3-0 to jump to the second spot in the standings in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 season at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Friday night.
Dimitrios Petratos, Jason Cummings, and Armando Sadiku, the in-form trioka in the Mariners’ incredibly-gifted frontline netted once each to cap off a convincing outing for Mohun Bagan Super Giant. Jamshedpur FC had been on an enviable surge since Khalid Jamil took over the reins, staying unbeaten in the second half of the current campaign. Their opponents had been in a similar run, not tasting defeat in the league since Antonio Lopez Habas replaced Juan Ferrando.
This was thus a clash of two impressively in-form units, but the superior striking quality in the Mohun Bagan Super Giant ranks shone through to secure three points for the Kolkata-based club. Supporting them was winger Manvir Singh, who entered this game as the player with the most assists (3) in this fixture. Over the course of 90 minutes, Manvir added two more to that tally, setting up the strikes of Petratos and Cummings.
In the seventh minute, Manvir made another one of his dazzling runs on the right flank, breaching past the Jamshedpur FC backline and squaring up a pass for an onrushing Petratos. The striker struck the sweet spot inside the net with his first touch, breaking the deadlock early on. The Mariners’ goalkeeper Vishal Kaith kept them in the game, denying the duo of Imran Khan and Daniel Chima Chukwu in the opening essay of the game.
Imran tested Kaith from a distance whereas Chukwu had a shot from inside the box, but, Kaith, with two saves and clearances each helped Mohun Bagan Super Giant keep an important clean sheet. As the game entered its final half hour, the home team produced some exemplary finishing to shoot up their lead. In the 68th minute, Manvir shifted into the middle, carving open a half space in the final third with a precise pass that Cummings shot straight past
TP Rehenesh. Joni Kauko played a key role in that move, holding up the ball, and waiting for Manvir to free up before delivering the ball to him.
Twelve minutes later, Sadiku jumped into the proceedings, converting a fairly straightforward tap-in to triple the lead, infusing momentum for the Mariners to finish the game on a high.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant next play the arch-rivals East Bengal FC in the Kolkata Derby on March 10 while Jamshedpur FC will return to action against Mumbai City FC on March 8.