Super Cup: Sanjiban Ghosh the shoot-out hero as Jamshedpur FC oust I-League champs Minerva Punjab

Bhubaneswar, April 2: Goalkeeper Sanjiban Ghosh turned out to be the hero of the match as Jamshedpur FC prevailed over I-league champions Minerva Punjab 5-4 in sudden death and enter the quarterfinals of the Super Cup at the Kalinga Stadium here on Monday (April 2). Jamshedpur FC were through to the last eight of the tournamen's inaugural edition when Gagandeep Bali's shot was stopped by Sanjiban.

FC Goa ready for ATK

Kervens Belfort, Wellington Priori, Bikey, Sumeet Passi and Mehtab Hussain scored for Jamshedpur FC. William Opoku, Eric Dano, Akashdeep Singh and Kamalpreet Singh found the net for Minerva Punjab in the shootout of an evenly contested contest that went the distance.

Both sides got their first two penalties on target in the shootout, with Memo missing the third for Jamshedpur.

Then Moinuddin hit the right upright to draw things level again. Cameroonian defender Bike put Jamshedpur ahead with his conversion of the fourth but Akashdeep drew Minerva level again.

Sumeet Passi converted Jamshedpur's fifth to put them ahead 4-3 and Kamalpreet then cooly converted for the Punjab side to get into sudden death.

Kiran Limbu then stopped BikashJairu's power drive and the Minerva's goalkeeper then opted to seal the issue himself, but Sanjiban extended his brilliant day with a crucial save.

The experienced Mehtab Hussain then converted cheekily and Sanjiban blocked Bali Gangandeep's shot for Minerva and it rebounded off the post to send Jamshedpur FC into ecstasy and the Super Cup quarterfinals.

Sanjiban Ghosh leads @JamshedpurFC into the last eight of the Hero Super Cup as his saves in the match and shoot-out knocks out the @ileagueofficial Champions @Minerva_AFC
#HeroSuperCup#JFCvMPFC pic.twitter.com/ZeqVWYgmMl

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) April 2, 2018

It was all square at the end of 90 minutes as the two teams headed for 30 minutes of extra time.

And the script remained the same at the end of 120 minutes too, leading to penalty shootout at the Kalinga Stadium.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Sanjiban saves again! We are through to the quarterfinal!

JFC - ⭕️⭕️✖️⭕️⭕️✖️⭕️
MPFC - ⭕️⭕️✖️⭕️⭕️✖️✖️#JFCvMPFC #HeroSuperCup #JamKeKhelo

— Jamshedpur FC (@JamshedpurFC) April 2, 2018

As the game headed towards the end of regulation time, both teams had had an almost equal number of chances at the goal, yet they failed to break the deadlock. Also, there was not much to separate the two as far as ball possession was concerned.

Sumeet Passi scores in the shootout, confirming his selection in the Indian squad for the next 6.5 years. #JFCvMPFC #HeroSuperCup

— Rohith Nair (@RohithNair) April 2, 2018

Minerva's star player Chencho Gyeltshen had two clear cut chances from close range in the second half of extra time but Jamshedpur goalkeeper Sanjiban Ghosh saved his team on both occasions with his smart anticipation at the post.

Jamshedpur have had a fairly decent Indian Super League debut season finishing fifth in the points table with seven victories and six defeats in 18 matches played.

Penalty Shoot Out: ( JFC 4 - 4 MPFC)
Kiran Limbu is stopped by Sanjiban and it is high end drama.
JFC 0 - 0 MPFC#HeroSuperCup #JFCvMPFC

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) April 2, 2018

On the other hand, Minerva Punjab scripted a fairytale journey to win the I-League title in only their second season in top-flight football.

Match result:

Jamshedpur FC 0 and Minerva Punjab FC 0

Penalty Shoot-Out:

Jamshedpur FC 5 (Tie-Breaker: Kelvens Belfort, Wellington Priori, Andre Bikey, Sumeet Passi, Mehtab Hossain )

bt

Minerva Punjab FC 4(Tie-Breaker: William, Dano, Akashdeep, Kamalpreet)