Odisha FC rolled past East Bengal FC with a 2-1 victory at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubanes war on Tuesday, to register its second win of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 campaign.
Seasoned stars Roy Krishna and Mourtada Fall found the back of the net once each across two halves to overcome the penalty stroke netted by East Bengal striker Dimitrios Diamantakos in the added time of the first half.
With this loss, the Red and Gold Brigade succumbed to their sixth successive loss this ISL season and a second consecutive one under new head coach Oscar Bruzon. The indomitable Krishna set up the stage for the same in the 22nd minute, as the Fijian forward scored his fourth goal against East Bengal in the competition.
Livewire youngster Isak Vanlalruatfela was amidst plenty of space on the left flank when he launched a slightly long-ranged through delivery for Krishna. The striker was in the right place at the right time to pierce through the visitors’ backline. He collected the ball at ease, marched forward and mastered the 1v1 situation with EBFC goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill to land the ball in the bottom right corner.
Odisha held on to that lead dearly until midfielder Thoiba Singh floundered and handled the ball in the penalty area as the first half was about to draw to an end. The referee handed a spot kick to EBFC and up stepped Diamantakos to snap his scoreless streak and net for the first time in five ISL matches. He deposited the ball into the bottom right corner with his left foot, past a fully stretched Amrinder Singh.
In the second half, Odisha had to regain control back over the proceedings, and Lobera’s trusted lieutenants – Fall and Ahmed Jahouh, yet again answered his call. A free-kick on the inside channel of the right flank, at a distance, was sufficient for the duo to turn the tables as Jahouh’s impeccable delivery was directed accurately to Fall, who nodded the ball home and secured the lead back for his team in the 69th minute.
Matters got further complicated for East Bengal when Provat Lakra was sent off for a second yellow card in the 76th minute for a tackle on Jahouh. Being a man down, it was unable to catch up with a well-coordinated Odisha unit, who walked back with three points in its bag. With this defeat, East Bengal has now become the second team in ISL history to lose its first six matches of the season after NorthEast United FC in 2022-23, who had faced defeats in all of its opening 10 games.
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