Mauricio brace in Odisha's win
Odisha FC did what they have been doing mostly this season. They have made it a habit of winning matches from a goal down.
On Saturday, too, after conceding early in the 10th minute the hosts rallied to defeat East Bengal comprehensively for a 3-1 win in their 13th Indian Super League match at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
Diego Mauricio scored a brace on either side of a Nandhakumar Sekar strike after Cleiton Silva had given the visitors an early lead. The win takes Odisha to fifth place on the table with 22 points from 13 games while the Kolkata giants remained rooted to the ninth spot with 12 points from 12 encounters.
The match started in a cagey man- Ner with both teams trying to take hold Odis of the midfield but it was East Bengal of hi who took the lead thanks to a brilliant effort by Brazilian Silva.
Compatriot Alex Lima sent in a long min ball from their half at the right of Odis The ha box. Silva, running into the box, lob tow bed the ball over Odisha goalkeeper in Amarinder Singh, who charged out of his position only to see the ball flying over his head and into the bottom left was corner.
Their wait for going 2-1 up however ended at the half-way mark. Receiving a pass from his strike partner Mauricio near the left touchline, Nandha's lo cross from a tight angle sailed over Eas Bengal custodian Suvam Sen into the top-right corner for a lucky goal.
Dene Chandra Meitei won the ball in a tap their half and sent it to Fernandes to his seed right. The latter ran forward on the far side before sending a defense splitting e to through on Mauricio's path near the edge of the box. The Brazilian beat his marker with pace inside the box and slotted past the right of red-and-gold Auri keeper to score the third for the beat Linga Warriors.
Though it turned out to be the most beautiful strike of the match, it looked to be an attempt for a long cross from Nandha which ended up in the net. The striker looked pleasantly surprised after the goal and didn't go berserk with celebration which this type of goals generally calls for.