Odisha hand East Bengal their sixth successive loss

Even as Odisha FC ’s fortunes seem to be on the rise, there appears to be no change in the fate of East Bengal .

And on Tuesday, at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, hosts Odisha added to their woes as they eked out a convincing 2-1 victory over the Kolkata giants, who were also reduced to 10 men for the last 15 minutes on way to their sixth defeat in as many games.

Dimitrios Diamantakos did cancel out a Roy Krishna 22nd-minute opener with the last kick of the first half, incidentally from the spot. However, Oscar Bruzon’s men had no answer to a Mourtada Fall aerial winner as Sergio Lobera ’s men climbed to the sixth spot on the Indian super League table with seven points from five matches.

There was, however, no respite for East Bengal who are languishing at the bottom of the 13-team table — still waiting for their first point after a run of six defeats so far.

The visitors made their aggressive intent clear from the first whistle and Amrinder Singh had to come to Odisha’s rescue in the 5th minute to clear a Nandhakumar Sekar shot after Mohamad Rakip sent in a swerving cross to the far left box from the right wing to his onrushing teammate.

Just a minute later, it was Diamantakos who challenged the Odisha custodian again with his left-footed shot from the right side of the box. In the 11th minute, Amrinder was once again called into action as East Bengal’s Majih Talal made a run into the middle of the box, past the Odisha defenders, but could not beat the outstretched right hand of the Odisha goalkeeper.

The missed chances gave Odisha the time and determination to grow into the game and soon they found the weak link in Bruzon’s tactic of high press that left a huge space for the Odisha playmakers to utilise and feed the poaching skills of Krishna.

With East Bengal’s most expensive player — Anwar Ali — clearing the Fijian’s attempt just a minute earlier with a brilliant tackle, an inch-perfect Isak Ralte cross from the Odisha half found Krishna just outside the box in the 22nd minute. And the veteran ISL striker made no mistake to send it past East Bengal goalkeeper Prabhsimran Singh for his first goal this season.

East Bengal, who had nine shots on target till the 45th minute but none inside the net, were lucky to have not fallen behind again as the Odisha counter-attacks became more optimistic. However, they lacked Krishna’s perfect final touch to increase the lead.

Meanwhile, the Kolkata giants found the lifeline in the 4th minute of added time when a shot from Frenchman Talal struck the hand of defender Thoiba Singh and the referee pointed to the spot. The visitors equalised with their 10th shot on goal as Diamantakos’s penalty kick was powerful enough to beat Amrinder despite the ’keeper going the right way for the save.

Both teams came back stronger after the change of ends and kept up their pursuit for a winner. While Nandhakumar’s optimistic piledriver went over the Odisha goal in the 67th minute, Odisha were awarded a foul in the 69th with their next attack.

Despite having an off-season so far, Fall put Odisha in the lead again by rising above his marker and converting the header from the ensuing freekick by Ahmed Jahouh.

While East Bengal tried to get back on their feet and find another answer, it was Odisha who looked more likely to change the scoresheet with Krishna, and substitute Diego Mauricio in the last 10 minutes, failing to make the most of some positive moves into the box.

The frustration, however, got the better of East Bengal as Provat Lakra was sent off for his second yellow card of the game for an unnecessary tackle on Jahouh in the 76th minute. The visitors seemed to have given up as Odisha kept toying near their defence, with Bruzon — who, too, earned himself a yellow — not a witness to the disappointment on the field.