ISL: JFC miss sitters, ATKMB valuable points

Jamshedpur FC missed two absolute sitters as they played out a goalless draw against ATK Mohun Bagan in the Indian Super League match at JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Thursday.
The first miss came in the injury time of first half when Carl McHugh gave an inch-perfect cross from the left to Boris Singh in front of the goal but to everyone's shock the Manipur forward made a mess of it and failed to keep it on target.
The second miss was by none other than Daniel Chima Chukwu in the dying minutes of the second half. With the action shifting from one side to another at the drop of a hat and with both teams going all out for a win, Chukwu had the best chance of the match in the 89th minute.
After receiving the ball at the edge of the box, Jay Thomas gave a lovely through pass to Chukwu, who had the goalkeeper to beat. But his left-footed shot was too weak and it was easily kept out by ATKMB goalkeeper Vishal Kaith.
The draw helped Jamshedpur accumulate 13 points from 18 matches while the Kolkata side rose to fourth on the table with 28 points from 17 matches.
Although they did get a point, it wasn't the result that ATKMB head coach Juan Ferrando wanted and he was expectedly not too happy at the end of the day. After all they are yet to finalize their playoff spot and this was quite a mediocre show from the Mariners. As a result of the draw they now have just one win from their last five games.
Yes, they dominated the proceedings but they failed to convert their chances. However, credit should be given to Jamshedpur goalkeeper TP Rehenesh, who had a brilliant game under the bar as he made a total of seven saves.
The best of the lot came in the 32nd minute when he made a double save. He first kept out Dimitri Petratos' shot from a free-kick and then denied Manvir Singh from scoring off a long ranger. In the 43rd minute, he once again did just enough to deny Petratos from close range.
Even in the second half, he continued his good show and kept out a strong left-footed shot from Federico Gallego in the 65th minute among many others.
Despite Rehenesh's performance, ATKMB should have done better to grab the three points on offer as they had a host of chances towards the dying minutes of the game.
Both sides will now take on defending champions Hyderabad FC in their next fixtures. While the Kolkata side will visit the defending champions on February 14, the Red Miners will visit the Nizams four days later.