Chennaiyin FC are back on a winning track after a narrow 1-0 win over Jamshedpur FC in the 2021-22 Indian Super League at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim. JFC were eliminated from the first four places after Kerala Blasters FC scored a point against FC Goa in the evening. Following this result, they slipped to sixth place as Bozidar Bandovic's men handed them their second loss of the campaign.
Lukasz Gikiewicz (31') opened the scoring with his first shot on target and eventually, it was enough to tear the teams apart.
Narendra Gehlot was shown the yellow card in the 20th minute. Later on a long-range free-kick, Mirlan Murzaev sent his effort over the goal. A few minutes later, Lukasz Gikiewicz broke the deadlock with CFC's first shot on target at the half-hour mark. The striker was comfortably leading a cross from Vladimir Koman behind the goalkeeper from inside the box. He was left unmarked by JFC's defenders and the Poland striker made no mistake with his header.
Greg Stewart had a great chance to level just before the halftime whistle, but he inadvertently shot from the edge of the penalty area. Chennaiyin maintained their lead before going into the break at halftime.
The substitute, Ritwik Das, also tried six minutes after the restart but cut his shot which eventually went in the wrong direction. Ricky Lallavmawma became the second JFC player to receive a yellow card for a bad timing challenge. Shortly after, Germanpreet Singh had a great opportunity to extend the lead by the hour. However, his shot from the edge of the box was blocked by a JFC defender after a counter-attack. In the 72nd minute, Debjit Mazumdar got down early to block Stewart's effort when the forward spun off several defenders to release a left-footed shot.
Ishaan Pandita was one of the options sent by Owen Coyle and the striker missed a sensational opportunity to equalize. A well-placed low cross from Murray found Pandita 12-yards from the target, but his first-ever right footed shot did not connect to the ball, which shocked all the JFC players. Chennaiyin FC maintained their lead in a professional performance and went past everything that was thrown at them by Jamshedpur FC.
Jamshedpur FC will take on struggling NorthEast United FC in their next outing at the Athletic Stadium on Thursday, while Chennaiyin FC will take on FC Goa at the same venue on Saturday.