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Brazilian forward Diego Mauricio had a wonderful evening as he starred in Odisha FC’s first win of the seventh season of the Indian Super League against Kerala Blasters.
The Bhubaneswar-based team defeated Kerala Blasters by 4-2 goals with Mauricio (50′,60′) scoring two and Steven Taylor (42′) getting one while the first one was a Jeakson Singh own goal (22′). For the Kerala Blasters, Jordan Murray and Gary Hooper found the back of the net in the 7th and 79th minutes respectively.
Odisha FC started the game on an attacking note as they made an early entry into the Kerala Blasters box. Jerry Mawihmingthanga got a long ball but nothing much happened over there for the Kalinga Warriors. Odisha FC got the first corner of the game but that also went in-vain.
The Kerala Blasters tried to take the lead in the fifth minute through Jordan Murray but his long-range shot from outside the box was collected easily by Arshdeep Singh. However, a couple of minutes later, Murray managed to find the back of the net for Kerala Blasters. Facundo Pereyra took the free-kick and delivered a long ball for Rahul KP whose header on target was parried away by Arshdeep but Murray got the rebound ball and managed to put that in for the first goal of the match.
Odisha FC got two opportunities after that in the 11th and 18th minutes but Jerry and Daniel Lalhlimpuia were not able to convert those into something substantial. The Kalinga Warriors managed to find the equaliser in the 22nd minute through Jerry and Diego Mauricio. The Brazilian got a chipped pass on the right and tried to put in a low cross inside the box but that took a deflection from Jeakson Singh and went into the goal.
Kerala Blasters came close to score right after that but some aware defending and goalkeeping effort from Odisha FC ensured those chances not being converted.
The Bhubaneswar-based took the lead in the 42nd minute through skipper Steven Taylor. Jerry’s free-kick found Steven who was unmarked and the former Newcastle United star didn’t make any mistake and scored his second goal in the league.
Odisha FC had a great start in the second half of the match as well. They missed a couple of goalscoring chances in the 47th minute but three minutes later, Diego doubled the lead. Jerry passed the ball to the Brazilian from the right. He entered the box and took a fierce shot to score his first goal of the evening.
After a couple of substitutions for Kerala Blasters, Diego came back attacking and put Odisha FC further ahead in the 60th minute. He got the through ball from Nandhakumar Sekar from the left flank and did well to drill the ball past the Kerala Blasters custodian to complete his brace.
In the 63rd and 65th minute, both the goalkeepers were in action with some amazing saves. Facundo Pereyra took the ball from the midfield and went ahead with a shot which was on target. However, Arshdeep put in the dive and managed to deny the goal for the Kerala Blasters.
Kerala Blasters managed to pull one back in the 79th minute through their substitute Gary Hooper who managed to beat Arshdeep after getting a cross from Murray on the left. After that, Odisha FC made three changes by bringing in Marcelinho, Sajid Dhot and Paul Ramfangzauva and Kerala Blasters kept on creating a few opportunities. However, alert defending and some good goalkeeping skills from Arshdeep ensured Odisha FC registering their first win of the season.
The Kalinga Warriors will now take on Chennaiyin FC in their next game on Sunday, January 10 at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim.
