AUTO REFRESH ON Half-time report: Jamshedpur FC are leading 2-0 against Chennaiyin FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur after a stunning strike by Pablo Morgado and a penalty goal by Carlos Calvo. The first 10 minutes was anobody's game but a 14th-minute strike by Morgado when he chested the ball down outside the box and blazed it into the far right corner to make 1-0 changed the complexion of the game. Jamshedpur piled further misery on the visitors when they were awarded a penalty in the 29th minute when Soosairaj, after some fine work down the right, eyed the far top corner only for Karanjit to parry the ball out. The ball fell kindly for Passi who was about to shoot when Jerry pulled him down, prompting the referee to point to the spot immediately. Calvo took the penalty kick and sent Karanjit the wrong way to score Jamshedpur's second of the night. For the next 25 minutes, Chennai struggled to even get into the final third and although they played more positively in the dying minutes of the first half, they never really came close to scoring a goal of their own
will look to arrest their slide when they square up against defending champions Chennaiyin FC in the Hero Indian Super League at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Sunday.
Although Jamshedpur are in the top half of the table, the hosts have only a mere two wins from eight matches, which is less than half of the teams placed above them.
Coach Cesar Ferrando will take heart from the fact that they have lost just once, but the fact that they have drawn a league high of five games will give him a few headaches.
Of the four games Jamshedpur are to play before the league enters its third break, three are in the comfort of their home soil.
Chennaiyin FC need to pick as many points as possible to move up the standings. They are placed ninth with just four points to show for their efforts from seven matches.
Ferrando will want a reaction from his players after their defeat in Pune and Gregory would be keen to build on their win in Pune.
Jamshedpur suffered their first defeat in opening eight matches against Pune earlier this week. One of the major issues for Jamshedpur this season has been their wastefulness in front of goal. Despite playing some good football and creating a lot of chances, their goal conversion rate has let the Miners down time and again. The Miners have had their troubles in defence too, leaking in soft goals. The team has failed to keep a clean sheet in their last seven matches.
Jamshedpur have scored 15 goals from 37 shots on target. They have the passing accuracy of 73.26 per cent and have kept one clean sheet.
Defending champions Chennaiyin FC had a terrible start to the season and could only pick up a single point from their first six outings. They eventually won against Pune in a 4-2 victory.Head coach John Gregory will be eager to hold onto the momentum and string together a series of victories to stay in the race for a playoff spot. Chennai have suffered due to the lack of goals from forwards. Out of the nine goals scored by Chennaiyin this season, only one has come from a striker. Chennaiyin's all-time top goal scorer Jeje Lalpekhlua is yet to find the net this season while Palestinian striker Carlos Salom has been mediocre at best, netting just a single goal in six matches. In fact, of the six individual scorers who have registered their names on the score sheet for Chennaiyin this season, three are defenders.
Chennai have scored nine goals from 32 shots on target. They have the passing accuracy of 73.91 per cent and kept one cleansheet.
Jamshedpur and Chennai have faced each other twice with Chennai winning once and the other ending in draw.