Odisha FC relied on two second-half goals to seal a comprehensive 2-0 win over Kerala Blasters in a Group D match of the Durand Cup football tournament at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday.
Issac Vanmalsavama 51. succeeded in scheduled tribe Minute and Spaniard Saul Crespo 74 . doubled the lead in th In the minutes, Odisha secured their second successive win.
The Blasters, who drew 1-1 against Sudeva Delhi in their first match, hardly tested Odisha’s defence.
After a resounding 6-0 win over NorthEast United FC, the experienced Odisha side used their flanks to put pressure on the Blasters. However, the Blasters defense took the pressure off in the first half.
scoring probabilities
Odisha had some good chances. In the 22nd minute, Issac was hit with a loose ball in the goal mouth but overshot it. In the 35th minute, Jerry bowled a fine ball into the box. A hardworking Nand Kumar ran from the left to see Blasters custodian Sachin Suresh stopping the effort.
Odisha got the lead six minutes after the restart. Coming off the bench, Diego Mauricio of Brazil beat two defenders from the right and cut back in the slot for an unmarked Vanamlaswama in the box.
Odisha squandered a few opportunities before scoring their second goal as Crespo guided Osama Malik into a header.
super option
Later, Bengaluru FC’s new attacking combination of Sunil Chhetri and Roy Krishna once again finished as former I-League and Indian Super League champions to beat the Indian Air Force 4–0 in Group A at the Kishore Bharati Stadium in Kolkata. Gave.
Both scored a goal each in the first half to put Bengaluru on the road to victory. Vikalp Faisal Ali and Shiva Shakti added two more after the interval.
The Krishna-Chhetri pair, who played a key role in the opening game win over Jamshedpur FC, continued in the same fashion. Krishna gave Bengaluru the lead in the ninth minute with a brilliant singles effort.
Chhetri got the target in the 23rd minute as he caught a long cross from Prabir Das and went home.
Bengaluru dominated the action and Faisal found the third goal in the 71st minute when another substitute Udant Singh gave him a fine cross. Shiv Shakti, who replaced Chhetri in the final quarter, provided the finishing touches when he was found in the net in injury-time (90+3).
The win helped Bengaluru FC finish at the top of the group league standings at Mohammedan Sporting, with six points from two wins each.
Result:Group D: Odisha FC 2 (Vanamalasavama 51, Crespo 74) bt Kerala Blasters 0.
Group A: Bengaluru FC 4 (Krishna 9, Chhetri 23, Faisal 71, Shiv Shakti 90+3) BT Indian Air Force 0.