Odisha FC and East Bengal FC played out a stellar tactical game at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Thursday, with the former coming from behind to win 2-1 quite comfortably in the end.
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This win reinforces Odisha FC's dominance at the top of the table, with them having amassed 35 points so far. East Bengal, however, continue to languish at the eighth spot with 18 points.
Odisha FC have made it a habit of coming from behind, and on Thursday, a penalty from Diego Mauricio in the 40th minute and a close-range shot from Princeton Rebello in the 61st minute helped them script a come-from-behind win.
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The goals were enough for the hosts to wipe out the lead the Torchbearers had taken thanks to PV Vishnu's early strike, which came just 32 seconds after kickoff.
The pre-game talk was dominated by Sergio Lobera's statement on East Bengal's constant complaining
East Bengal came second best against Odisha FC on Thursday. [EB Media]
Much of the pre-game anticipation had been dominated by Odisha FC head coach Sergio Lobera's statement that East Bengal had won the Super Cup final purely due to a referee's mistake.
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The bitterness in the Spaniard's voice was palpable given that his team finished as the runners-up. That was also the last time the two teams faced off against each other.
This was not taken too kindly by either the players or supporters of East Bengal, and they vowed to showcase their wares against the Kalinga Warriors when they met on Thursday.
However, the tables were turned as Odisha FC ended up winning the game despite the Torchbearers throwing everything they had at their opponents but not finding any avenues to create a breakthrough in proceedings.
Odisha FC will now travel to Chennai to take on Chennaiyin FC on Sunday, March 3, whereas East Bengal will be hosted by FC Goa at the Fatorda Stadium on Wednesday, March 6.
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About the author
Mohul Bhowmick
Mohul is a senior football, cricket and Olympic Sports writer at Sportskeeda, and has been in the organisation for more than 6 years. Some of his best work includes 118 exclusive interviews with famous sports personalities, insider talk and transfer speculations. He has also covered the entirety of the 2023-24 ISL season, Kalinga Super Cup and 2023-24 Pro Kabaddi League from the ground.
An MBA degree holder in Finance, Mohul is also a professional cricketer and is currently in the reserves for Hyderabad’s Ranji Trophy team. He’s also played league football in Hyderabad.
His football interest sparked after watching countless Rahim League matches at the Gymkhana and supporting the State Bank of Hyderabad. He grew up hearing stories about the legendary Syed Abdul Rahim and his incredible football team of the 1960s, which had a big influence on him. He has admired Manchester United’s dominance in English and European football as well.
Tennis star Leander Paes, Olympic gold-medalist Abhinav Bindra, cricketing legend Rahul Dravid and football star Chinglensana Singh are Mohul’s favorite athletes. He is a staunch Hyderabad FC supporter, and Sahil Tavora’s 88th-minute equalizer in the 2021-22 ISL Cup final against Kerala Blasters is one of his favorite footballing moments. Abhinav Bindra’s gold medal in shooting at the 2008 Olympics also had a huge impact on Mohul.
In his work, he strives to write relevant, accurate and unbiased stories by conducting thorough research. When not working, Mohul enjoys reading books and listening to heavy metal and rock music.