Jamshedpur demolishes struggling Chennaiyin

Jamshedpur FC all but secured a spot in the Indian Super League 2021-22 play-offs with a 4-1 demolition of Chennaiyin FC at the Tilak Maidan here on Sunday.

Jamshedpur, which notched up its third consecutive victory, moved to second with 31 points from 16 matches while Chennaiyin remains eighth with 20 points from 18 games. With the defeat, CFC is officially out of the semi-final race.

Ritwik Das (23’), Boris Singh (33’) and Daniel Chima Chukwu (40’) got on the scoresheet for Jamshedpur before Chennaiyin central defender Deepak Devrani (46’) netted an own goal. Striker Nerijus Valskis (62’) struck a consolation goal against his former team.

JFC bossed the match from the start and opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. Greg Stewart’s corner was headed back by Peter Hartley, but Chennaiyin failed to clear the lines. Ritwik was on hand and guided the ball into the net.

A few minutes after the cooling break, Boris tapped the ball home after Stewart found him following a dart inside the box. Chima made it 3-0 by scoring his fourth goal for the ‘Men of Steel’ in five fixtures. A poor goal-kick by CFC’s Debjit Majumder saw Eli Sabia ping the ball into the final third.

Chima dropped his shoulder, turned and slotted the ball into the left corner. Just after the break, Devrani compounded Chennaiyin’s misery by putting the ball in his own net off a Stewart floater. Valskis pulled one back for CFC after Ariel Borysiuk’s long-range effort was saved.

RESULT: Chennaiyin FC 1 (N Valskis 62) 1 lost to Jamshedpur FC 4 (Ritwik 23, Boris 33, D Chima 40, D Devrani 46 (OG))