Jamshedpur FC, playing as the home side in the early kickoff this evening started on the ascendancy with striker Nerijus Valskis spurning a couple of good chances in the early exchanges. The striker, however, had his goal bound shot blocked on the line by Odisha’s defender Gaurav Bora with his hand and the referee awarded a spot kick. Valskis duly stepped up to break the deadlock from 12 yards out in the 12th minute and gave Jamshedpur a much deserved lead.
The Lithuanian striker then, scored his brace in the 27th minute, pouncing on Shubham’s loose defensive header to fire home first time from a tight angle as the home side went into half time with a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Odisha FC showed more intent in the second half but were largely wasteful in their finishing. Stuart Baxter shook things up for the away side and made a direct swap upfront with Diego Mauricio coming in for Manuel Onwu in the hour mark. Diego Mauricio’s speed and directness was a constant thorn in the Jamshedpur defence and Odisha got a break for all their positiveness when Jamshedpur’s goalkeeper Rehenesh was sent off in the 74th minute for handling outside the box. Mauricio’s effort from the resulting free kick cannoned off the upright before the ball fell kindly to the striker again whose half volley was blocked. However, Diego Mauricio was third time lucky as a scuffed effort by Jacob fell kindly to the striker and he poked home from close range in the 77th minute to half the deficit and set up a grand stand finale. The striker would be Odisha’s hero again in the 92th minute as he curled home an absolute peach of a strike to restore parity for the away side and win a deserved point.
