Odisha FC beat Mohun Bagan Super Giant 2-1 in the first leg of the 1st ISL Semi Finals | ISL 2023-24
Odisha FC defeated Mohun Bagan Super Giant 2-1 in the first leg of the first semi-finals in the ISL 2023-24 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on April 23. Odisha FC qualified for the semi-finals, having beaten Kerala Blasters in the playoff game. Their opponents Mohun Bagan Super Giant, reached the semi-finals on the virtue of finishing the league as the shield winners.
The game started as an end-to-end affair. The visitors scored the first goal of the game in the third minute when Manvir Singh headed home from a Dimi Petratos corner. Manvir was left unmarked at the edge of the six-yard box, and the Punjabi forward made no mistake in giving the Mariners the lead.
Mourtada Fall and Amrinder Singh should have done better during the corner routine from which Mohun Bagan Super Giant scored.
Odisha FC though didn't have to wait long to score the equalizer as Carlos Delgado scored in the 11th minute from an Ahmed Jahouh corner to level the scores. Carlos Delgado leapt up and, managed to place Jahouh's corner in the bottom corner of the net with his left foot.
The Kalinga Warriors were nearly awarded a penalty just after scoring the equalizer in the 14th minute but, Roy Krishna was adjusted to have moved into an offside position before earning the penalty after Vishal Kaith brought down Fijian inside the box.
Sergio Lobera's side finally did manage to score the goal that gave them the lead in the 39th minute. Krishna made full use of Amrinder Singh's long ball and then made Hector Yuste commit a mistake before toe-poking the ball into the back of the net past an onrushing Vishal Kaith. The scoreboard at halftime read 2-1 in favor of the hosts.
Antonio Lopez Habas made a change at halftime with hopes of securing a victory. He replaced Abhishek Suryavanshi with Deepak Tangri. Liston Colaco won a free kick at the edge of the box in the 50th minute but his shot from the resulting free kick was poor as it sailed over the goalpost.
Carlos Delgado was shown a yellow card for a handball at the edge of the box in the 58th minute. Dimi Petratos' freekick was saved brilliantly by Amrinder Singh but Anwar Ali failed to slot the ball into an open net from the rebound.
Armando Sadiku was shown his second yellow card of the game in the 67th minute after barging into Ahmed Jahouh from behind. The resulting red card meant that the Albanian forward would miss the second leg of the semi-finals.
Delgado was shown his second yellow of the game in the 74th minute for a handball just like his first yellow card of the game. He too would miss the second leg of the semi-final. The second yellow for Carlos was harsh though.
Both sides tried hard to change the scoreline in the remaining minutes of the game but failed to do so. At the full-time whistle, the scoreboard read 2-1 in favor of the hosts.
With the result, Odisha FC ended their entire run of home games being unbeaten at the Kalinga Stadium during the ISL 2023-24 season. On that note, let's take a look at the player ratings of Odisha FC.
Odisha FC move into the second-leg semi-final with an advantage
Amrinder Singh (6.5): Amrinder made some good saves for Odisha FC during the game today. He could have done better though during the goal Mohun Bagan Super Giant scored.
Jerry Lalrinzuala (6.5): Jerry had a good game today as he managed to counter the threat of Manvir Singh for most parts of the game. He didn't allow the attackers of the Mariners to cut back too much and tried to help his side in attack.
Carlos Delgado (7): Carlos Delgado would have gotten a much higher rating had he not been sent off during the game. He was by far the best defender for the Kalinga Warriors. He also scored the goal that gave Odisha FC the equalizer today. He will be missed in the return leg.
Mourtada Fall (6.5): Fall should have done better in reading the ball from which Mohun Bagan Super Giant scored today. His misjudgement left Manvir Singh open, which resulted in the goal. Overall, he managed to make up for his mistake. He will need to pull up his socks for the second leg.
Amey Ranawade (6.5): Amey had a good game going forward as he troubled the likes of Subhasish Bose often. He also got into unusual positions which troubled Mohun Bagan Super Giant a lot.
Putea Khawlhring (6.5): Putea acted as the perfect cover for Ahmed Jahouh today. He didn't hesitate to get into the tackles and also managed to win some second balls for his side.
Ahmed Jahouh (7.5): Jahouh provided the assist for the first goal Odisha FC scored today. The former ISL winner had one of his best games this season as he managed to counter the threat of Joni Kauko properly.
Isak Vanlalruatfela (6.5): Isak troubled Abhishek a lot today during the first half. He managed to create a lot of space and cut inside but his final shots were not effective. Odisha FC will hope the young winger gets his shots and crosses on the mark in the second leg.
Princeton Rebello (6): Princeton worked his socks off today. He had some good chances during the game today but failed to utilize them.
Jerry Mawihmingthanga (6): Jerry had a decent game today, he tried hard going forward and also helped out his side in defense.
Roy Krishna (8): Roy Krishna netted his 13th goal to become the top goal-scorer of the league, tied with Dimitri Diamantakos with 13 goals. He could have had a couple of more goals but he was denied by the Mariners' defense.
Substitutes
Lenny Rodrigues (6): Lenny replaced Princeton in the 79th minute of the game. He was part of the plan of Sergio Lobera to see out the game. He didn't make much fuss during his time on the pitch.
Narendra Gahlot (6): Narendra Gahlot replaced Putea in the 79th after Carlos Delgado was shown a red card. He nearly made a blunder in the dying moments of the match but managed to recover and clear the ball and secure a victory for Odisha FC.
Vignesh Dakshinamurthy (NA): Vignesh replaced Jerry in the 84th minute to solidify the defense. He didn't impact the match much.
Diego Mauricio (NA): The Brazilian striker replaced Roy Krishna in the 85th minute. He did get a good opportunity to double the lead for the Kalinga Warriors, but the move didn't materialize for Odisha FC.
Aniket Jadhav (NA): Aniket replaced Isak in the 85th minute with hopes of adding pace down the flanks. He did have a good opportunity to create an opening in the 90th minute but failed to do so.