After edging a 2-1 win against Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 League Shield champion Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Odisha FC will face the Mariners in the second and deciding leg at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday, April 28.
This season, a mini-rivalry has brewed between Odisha and Mohun Bagan not only in Indian football but in the AFC Cup as well.
Before the semifinal clash, the Juggernauts and the Mariners faced each other four times - twice in the AFC Cup and twice in the ISL. In the AFC Cup, Mohun Bagan and Odisha won a match each, while in the ISL league stage, both clashes ended in a draw.
And some of these matches have been ones to remember.
Odisha FC 0-4 Mohun Bagan Super Giant (AFC Cup)
It was absolute domination from Mohun Bagan when it faced Odisha FC for their AFC Cup group stage clash at the Kalinga Stadium.
The Mariners beat 10-man Odisha 4-0 and did so in style.
Sahal Abdul Samad opened the scoring in the 46th minute, and from there on, there was no stopping the Mariners. Dimitrios Petratos grabbed a brace, with Liston Colaco, also getting one inside the net.
That Odisha FC lost an important defender in Mourtada Fall after he saw a red card, did not aid the cause of Sergio Lobera and his men.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant 2-5 Odisha FC
After a humiliation at the Kalinga Stadium in the first AFC Cup group stage match, Odisha FC returned the favour by thrashing Mohun Bagan 5-2 at the Salt Lake Stadium.
It was Mohun Bagan’s Hugo Boumous who opened the scoring in the match in the 17th minute. But then, the Juggernauts started running rampage in front of the Mariners faithful after Roy Krishna, Diego Mauricio, and Cy Goddard found the net to make it 3-1 in Odisha’s favour. X
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Kiyan Nassiri made it 3-2 by scoring in the 63rd minute, but Lobera’s men completed the drubbing after Aniket Jadhav and Isak Vanlalruatfela scored stoppage-time goals to make it 5-2.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant 2-2 Odisha FC
Nine days after Odisha FC dominated Mohun Bagan at home in their AFC Cup clash, both sides locked horns again at the Salt Lake.
Ahmed Jahouh broke the deadlock in the 31st minute after successfully converting a penalty. Roy Krishna doubled the lead in first-half stoppage time.
But it was an inspiring performance from the Mariners in the second-half with Albanian forward Armando Sadiku at the centre of it. He first pulled a goal back in the 58th minute and then in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time to grab the equaliser and steal a point for Mohun Bagan.
It was a wonderful contest of football between the teams, but it was marred at the end after a tussle broke out between both camps after the full-time whistle. Then-Mariners head coach Juan Ferrando and Mauricio had a go at each other, for which they were shown a red card. Lobera also got involved in the tussle, but the Spaniard escaped any punishment.
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