Odisha FC were a team on a mission and they lived up to the expectation.
Desperately needing a win to keep alive their hopes of making it into the knockout phase, the Juggernauts confidently bagged the three points on offer with a 3-1 win over NorthEast United FC in their penultimate match of the Indian Super League (ISL) Season 9 in Guwahati on Friday.
The victory took the visitors to the fifth position on ISL table, sending ATK Mohun Bagan a rung down to the last spot in the playoff zone. While player-of-the-match Saul Crespo and Diego Mauricio combined very well from midfield into the box to frustrate the opposition defence throughout, it was strikes from Nandhakumar Sekar (35th), Victor Rodriguez (65’) and the Brazilian striker himself that earned them a comfortable win with 30 points in their kitty.
However, Josep Gombau will lament missing out on a clean sheet — with Jordan Wilmar Gil converting from the spot in the last minute of regulation time — with his team still needing at least a point to qualify for the next stage of the league and have ATKMB and FC Goa close on their heels.
They will be relieved to be playing the last match of the league in front of the home crowd at Kalinga Stadium and will have second-last placed Jamshedpur FC as their final opposition.
Things were, however, quite different for the hosts on the day who failed to get any point from the game and succumbed to their 16th defeat in 19 matches this season. It fortified their position on the last spot and NEUFC will be eager to move on from a campaign to forget.
“We don’t mark very well. I am disappointed,” NEUFC coach Vincenzo Annese said at the post-match presentation and his frustration was evident on the field. Playing their last match of the season in front of the scanty home crowd at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, the Highlanders did restrict the in-form visitors for more than 30 minutes of the game.
But the persistence of the Odisha attackers paid off in the 35th minute as Sahil Panwar cut the ball back for Nandhakumar at the edge of the box. The Indian striker gave NEUFC custodian no chance as he powerfully hit it to the left of Arindam Bhattacharya for the breakthrough.
While Odisha failed to convert any of the later chances in the first half to increase the lead, they did so in the 65th minute of the second half as substitute Rodriguez — on the pitch for just 6 minutes — made space for himself in front of the goal on receiving an incisive cross from Crespo and then beat the goalie with a deft finish.
It was then left to Mauricio to seal the game from the spot with his 12th goal of the season that got him on equal terms with topscorer East Bengal’s Cleiton Silva.
There was some drama towards the end as NEUF skipper earned a penalty at the opposite end in the 90th minute and then converted for his sixth goal in 10 matches.
