Jamshedpur FC goalkeeper Subhasish Roy repaid the faith shown in his abilities by Spanish coach Cesar Ferrando, with two thrilling saves and being confident in a crisis, in a 2-0 win over Mumbai City FC here on Tuesday.
Strikes by Mario Arques and substitute Pablo Morgado were enough to beat the host, for which two goals were disallowed for off-side.
Arques, pulling strings in the midfield effortlessly, relayed a pass crossfield to Carlos Calvo whose trap, turn and relay into the goalmouth found his team-mate popping up to head home from an acute angle.
Morgado squeezed the ball through a gap between Mumbai ’keeper Amrinder Singh’s shoulder and the post for the second goal in extended time. Jerry Mawhingthanga sparkled for JFC on the right wing.
JFC exploited the space on the right flank, created by Jerrry’s pace with the ball and ability to hit crosses on the run. He served notice of talent by twisting free after a tackle and setting off on a run down the wing. MCFC defence again faced anxiety when a cross by the Mizo from near the corner flag floated within range for Arques but the latter’s overhead came to naught.
The home team woke up from early slumber to park themselves in the rival half. Shouvik Chakravarti’s pass fell far away from Subhasish Bose. Paulo Machado picked out Lucian Golan from a set-piece, the ball floated in off the corner kick towards the Romanian to leap high but head over.
Crossing over with a one-goal lead, JFC continued to hunt for goals. Two back-to-back corner kicks put the MCFC defensive line-up in trouble. Tiri directed a header goalwards, off the first from Carlos Calvo, forcing Golan to react with a his right foot, swinging the leg on the goal-line and connecting with the outstep.
Subhashish rescued JFC twice, first by rushing out to close down Raphael Bastos and followed it up with a timely leap to tip over a header by Modou Sougou.
Mumbai City fans roared when a header by Mohd Rafique went in, but the offside flag was up.
A header by Sougou, from a rebound off the post, was then ruled off-side. Subhasish Bose had set up the chance for his teammate from Senegal with a stunning direct free-kick, curling the ball away from the wall towards the right corner.
The result:
Jamshedpur FC 2 (Mario Arques 28, Pablo Morgado 90+) bt Mumbai City FC 0.