ISL 2021-22: Kerala Blasters and Jamshedpur share spoils in intense clash

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:01 am

Sahal Abdul Samad of Kerala Blasters celebrates after scoring vs Jamshedpur FC.
Sahal Abdul Samad of Kerala Blasters celebrates after scoring vs Jamshedpur FC.
Faheem Hussain/Focus Sports/ ISL

Jamshedpur FC and Kerala Blasters played out an intense 1-1 draw at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Sunday.

Greg Stewart gave Jamshedpur the lead with a stunning goal from a free kick in the 14th minute but his strike was cancelled out by Sahal Abdul Samad who scored his third goal in three matches in the 27th minute. The result means Kerala Blasters are now third in the table with 13 points from eight matches while Jamshedpur are second, having the same number of points from eight games but ahead on goal scored.

Stewart showed early signs of continuing his purple patch with a wonderful first touch to receive a ball on the edge of the box but the Scottish forward's attempt went wide of goal. Minutes later, the 31-year old scored an incredible goal from a free-kick after Boris Singh was hacked down by Harmanjot Khabra on the inside left channel.

At an angle, Stewart curled a left-footer around a poorly placed Kerala wall to beat the keeper all ends up and nestle in the back of the net off the near post.

Kerala did not take long to equalise largely due to Alvaro Vazquez's handiwork as he spun around Peter Hartley and then skipped past another white shirt to shoot on goal, only for TP Rehenesh to dive low and pull off a good save. The ball, though, rebounded toward Sahal who turned it in to extend his scoring spree. Having scored just one ISL goal prior to this season, he now has 5 and is the team's top scorer.

At halftime, both teams went into the break with the scores level. Soon after the restart, Stewart picked up a yellow card for a challenge on Khabra. There was a moment of genius later, as Vazquez's delicious chip came off the crossbar after Hartley uncharacteristically failed to clear the ball.

Both sides upped the ante and it was intense, end-to-end stuff in the last half hour or so.

Vazquez forced Rehenesh into action with a low shot that went out for a corner while Jitendra Singh's volley from outside the box took a deflection and went straight to the keeper.

There were chances for both teams in the dying minutes (the best of which saw Ishan Pandita fail to beat the goalkeeper went sent through one-on-one) but neither could seize upon it.