Aizawl FC falls to Odisha FC after a valiant first half

Attacking play: Diego Mauricio opened up the scoring for Odisha FC. PHOTO: SAKEER HUSSAIN 

Aizawl FC put up a fight in the first half, but crumbled in the second against the relentless onslaught from the Odisha FC frontline in a Group B match in the Super Cup on Thursday. Odisha won 3-0, through goals from Diego Mauricio, Víctor Rodriguez and Nandha Kumar.

After the 1-1 draw with East Bengal it was a badly-needed win for Odisha. For Aizawl, it was its second defeat in a row.

The I-League team from Mizoram looked confident though in the opening half. It defended well and goalkeeper Vanlal Hriatpuia bought off some excellent saves, too.

After the break, the Odisha men showed even more urgency in its attack. Two minutes into the second half, Diego put them ahead, following a corner-kick taken by Denechandra Meitei.

Aniket Jadhav’s first attempt should have been put away out of the danger by one of the three Aizawl men at the goalline, but none did, and Diego wasn’t going to waste that opportunity. Eight minutes later, a fine move initiated on the right flank by Aniket was finished off with precision by Rodriguez.

In the injury time, substitute Nandha Kumar scored off a deflection to make it 3-0, and it easily could have been 4-0 but Hriatpuia stopped the penalty kick from Diego.

The result:

Odisha FC 3 (Diego Mauricio 47, Víctor Rodriguez 55, Nandha Kumar 90+3) bt Aizawl FC 0.