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Manisha Naik scored in the 85th minute to salvage a draw against HOPS FC and earn Sports Odisha their first point of the IWL season at the Capital Football Arena on Tuesday, January 16, 2024.
While HOPS FC moved to fifth place in the points table, Sports Odisha finally got off the mark for the season.
HOPS FC opened the game well as they were knocking on the Odisha defensive line right from the start. Their tactic of playing long balls from the back was quite evident as they were trying to release Fredrica Torkudzor and Neha on the right and the left flanks, respectively, behind the Odisha line of defence. Both teams failed to get control in the early stages resulting in a rather open game.
The first real opportunity fell to Neha, who hit the side netting from close range in the 25th minute. On the other end, Deepa Nayak came very close to giving Odisha the lead when her long shot was well gathered by the goalkeeper.
HOPS FC started to get hold of the ball more towards the end of the first half and started dominating possession in the midfield. But Sports Odisha attacks caught the HOPS defence on the counter on a couple of occasions, which created half chances and both were missed by Rashmi.
Odisha made several attacks at the rival goal. The first best chance fell to Rashmi again but she put her shot over the bar in the 51st minute. But to the disappointment of the Sports Odisha fans, Federicka scored from a brilliant cross by Neha to give Hops FC the lead totally against the run of play in the 68th Minute.
Odisha desperately pushed forward for an equaliser that would leave their defensive line open for the likes of Neha and Fredrica to capitalise upon. The pressure from Sports Odisha finally paid off when a long-range shot from Subhadra hit the crossbar and fell straight into the path of Manisha Naik to score from a simple header in the 81st minute and earn the first point for her team.
