ISL 2019-20 : Sergio Castel stars in 10-men Jamshedpur FC's win over Odisha FC

10-men Jamshedpur FC got past the new entrants Odisha FC in a highly tactical contest in Jamshedpur. The hosts took the lead which was cancelled out a few minutes later. But Jamshedpur did get the lead even after being numerically down with some great counter moves.

Odisha FC started the game on a strong note. Jamshedpur FC did have the first few half-chances in the initial few opening minutes but Odisha FC came slowly back into the game. Piti and Noe Acosta were combining well in the Jamshedpur midfield which kept Subrata Paul every busy in the first few exchanges.

Piti kept in delivering dangerous looking balls, found Tiri and Manroy time and again but the headers could never really materalise into dangerous-looking chances. Jamshedpur FC's passive pressure eventually resulted in a goal after Farukh Chowdhary's long ball from the right side ended up in the back of the net after being deflected off Rana Gharami in the 16th minute. Odisha FC eventually started to come back into the game. Jerry Mawhmingthanga was ever troublesome for the Red Miners. He burst into counters on numerous occasions and came close to scoring each time. He hit the post in the 22nd minute with a brilliant solo run.

One of Jerry's solo runs on counter resulted in the sending off of Bikash Jairu. Jerry got past Keegan Pereira and had only the keeper to beat but a desperate tackle from the back by Jairu brought down Jerry and the lad from Sikkim was sent-off accordingly. 10-men Jamshedpur finally crumbled under pressure when Jerry Mawhimngthanga's inch-perfect ball from the right found Adriane Santana who finished the chance off with a half-volley on first time from inside the box.

Odisha FC went into the break with a more confident look and also had a numerical advantage. The second-half began with Odisha FC pilling on steady passive pressure on Jamshedpur FC. Nandhakumar and Tebar kept on creating chances for their team but could never really dismantle the Jamshedpur defence courtesy some high show of discipline from the shape-shifted Jamshedpur backfour.

Jamshedpur FC had the chance to kill the game on the counter when Farukh Chawdhary had all the time and space to finish off a chance but went for the unselfish route and tried to pick an onrushing Castel but miscalculated miserably and ended up giving the ball to a white shirt. However, Castel made amends soon when being played on by Piti on the counter again. Castel kept his composure, allowed Dorronsoro to rush-in and he chipped it over to give the home side the lead against a numerically superior side in the 85th minute.

With little time on the clock, Odisha FC could never really look to get back on level terms and thus had to start their campaign on a losing note. Jamshedpur FC will now host Hyderabad FC on 29th October while Odisha FC travel to Guwahati in 26th October.