ISL: Stewart special fails to secure win as Jamshedpur share spoils with Kerala

PANAJI: Jamshedpur FC could not crown Greg Stewart's special goal with a victory as they had to share the spoils with Kerala Blasters in a 1-1 draw in the Indian Super League at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Sunday.

Stewart scored a stunning goal from a free kick in the 14th minute but his strike was cancelled out by Sahal Abdul Samad who scored a third successive goal in the 27th minute. Both teams looked for the winning goal but had to be content with a point in the end.

The result means Kerala Blasters are now third in the table with 13 points from eight matches while Jamshedpur is second, having the same number of points from eight games but ahead on goal scored.

Stewart showed early signs of continuing his purple patch with a wonderful first touch to receive a ball on the edge of the box but the Scottish forward's attempt went wide of goal. Minutes later, the 31-year old scored an incredible goal from a free-kick after Boris Singh was hacked down by Harmanjot Khabra on the inside left channel.

Showing skill of the highest order, Stewart curled a left-footer around the Jamshedpur wall to beat the keeper all ends up and nestle in the back of the net off the crossbar.
Kerala did not take long to equalise largely due to Alvaro Vazquez's spadework as he spun around Peter Hartley and then skipped past another white shirt to shoot on goal, only for TP Rehenesh to dive low and pull off a good save but as far as Samal who turned in the rebound to extend his scoring spree.

At halftime, both teams went into the break with the scores level. Soon after the restart, Stewart picked up a yellow card for a challenge on Khabra and at the other end, Vazquez's delicious chip came off the crossbar after Hartley uncharacteristically failed to clear the ball.

Both sides upped the ante and it was end to end stuff in the last half hour or so. Vazquez forced Rehenesh into action with a low shot that went out for a corner while Jitendra Singh's volley from outside the box took a deflection and went straight to the keeper. There were chances for both teams in the dying minutes but it ended as it started.