Odisha, Kerala play out thrilling 4-4 draw - As it happened

Odisha FC ended its maiden Indian Super League campaign sixth with 25 points, while Kerala Blasters finished seventh with 19 points.

Manuel Onwu (centre) has been a revelation for Odisha since his loan move from Bengaluru FC.

 

MATCH REPORT | Odisha FC and Kerala Blasters played an entertaining 4-4 draw at the Kalinga Stadium. Manuel Onwu scored a hat-trick for the host while Bartholomew Ogbeche netted twice to lead the Golden Boot standings with 15 to his name. Click here to read the full report.

Full time: Odisha 4-4 Kerala Blasters: The match ends in a thrilling 4-4 draw at the Kalinga stadium as Manuel Onwu scores hat-trick, while Ogbeche scores a brace. Narayan Das netted an own goal, Guedes Perez netted one for his side too while Messi Bouli scored too.

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90+3' - GOAL! Ogbeche scores from the penalty spot, going for the bottom right corner. He makes scores level after Dorronsoro gave away the spot-kick when he collided into Ogbeche in the box.

83' - GOAL! Ogbeche scores from the penalty spot, sending Dorronsoro the wrong way. Sarangi was guilty of bringing down Ogbeche, thereby awarding the spot-kick. Odisha 4-3 Kerala Blasters

80' - Eelco makes our final two changes of the evening as Samuel and Jeakson come on for Sahal and Lalruatthara.

79' - OFF THE BAR AGAIN! This time it is Nandha who sees his shot come off the bar. He comes in from the left to the middle, delivers a power-packed shot but it hits the post.

76' - Off the post! Nandha, from the left wing, whips in a cross for Xisco whose shot ricochets off the bar!

73' - Odisha is still dominating the proceedings hre. It is currently enjoying a two-goal lead, thanks to strikes from Perez and Onwu.

66' - Odisha tries to attack on the counter as the players build from the back. The final long ball is played for Bora, whose heavy first touch means he losses the possession to custodian Bilal.

64' - Rahul KP makes his run from the left wing but trips and losses possession. He seems unhappy with the move being cut short.

62' - Xisco comes on for Perez, and Bora comes on for Lalhimpuia as Odisha makes two changes.

60' - WHAT A SHOT! Lalhimpuia takes a shot from near the half-line mark and it misses the mark by a whisker!

50' - GOAL! Manuel Onwu completes his hat-trick! After Bilal picked up the ball outside the box, Odisha was awarded a free-kick from which Onwu found the net for the third time this evening!  Odisha 4-2 Kerala Blasters

49' - Zuiverloon flicks the ball down for Messi who takes a shot which goes wide.

46' - The second half begins. No half-time changes for both sides.

Half time: Odisha 3-2 Kerala Blasters: Odisha scored via Onwu in the first minute but Das scored an own goal to lose the lead. Messi struck to bring Kerala 2-1 up but Onwu added his second before Perez's spot-kick made it 3-2 before the break.

45' - Two minutes have been added on. Rahul KP comes on for Narzary, who seems to have pulled his hamstring.

43' - GOAL! Odisha is awarded a penalty after Gaikwad brings down an Odisha player in the box. Perez steps up for the spot-kick and sends it into the bottom-right corner of the net.

41' - Jerry gets past the Kerala defenders to find Lalhimpuia with a through ball. Lalhimpuia takes a left-footed shot but Bilal gets one hand to it to keep it away.

36' - GOAL! Onwu scores again! From a free-kick, he sends a curling ball into the top corner, bringing Odisha back into the game. Odisha 2-2 Kerala Blasters

34' - A tussle breaks out between the two teams as Drobarov and Onwu seemed to not get along. The referee cautions them as play continues.

28' - GOAL! Messi Bouli puts Kerala in the lead. He takes one touch to control the cross sent in from the left by Jessel, before slotting it home comfortably. Odisha 1-2 Kerala Blasters.

26' - Nandha! He makes a wonderful run and gets past three defenders before finding teammate Vinit. Vinit tries to keep the attack alive but is intercepted within seconds.

24' - Sahal losses possession to the Odisha players as Lalhimpuia attacks. He teams up with Jerry but the youngster loses the ball as soon as it is met with the Kerala defensive line. Meanwhile, Messi brings down Onwu with a foul.

22' - Sarangi starts a good move from deep midfield, combining with Jerry on the left wing but goes for the goal from 40 yards out, sending his shot over the bar.

19' - Ogbeche picks out Narzary rushing in from the left wing but the Indian international's cross is poor and is cleared out for a corner by Sarangi. The subsequent corner sees Ogbeche's shot at the far post close range go wide.

16' - Nandha whips a cross from the left for Onwu in the box but Onwu heads it backwards instead of keeping it towards the net.

14' - Dorronsoro gets a slight touch on the shot taken by Ogbeche as he keeps it out. Ogbeche received the ball from the left before shooting it at goal.

12' - Vinit looks for Perez in the box with his through ball but the Perez can't get there in time. Earlier, Jerry and Nandha played the ball across the flanks.

9' - From the right flank, Jerry comes in and makes some yards for himself. After the first-time effort being blocked, he shoots but sends it over the bar.

6' - OWN GOAL! Kerala bridges the deficit as Messi Bouli's cross from the left is sent into his own net by Narayan Das! Odisha 1-1 Kerala Blasters.

1' - GOAL! Manuel Ownu scores in the opening minute for Odisha. He connects with a cross from Jerry M and sends the header into the net. Odisha 1-0 Kerala Blasters.

1' - Kick-off! Odisha vs Kerala is underway at the Kalinga stadium.

Line-ups

Odisha XI: Dorronsoro; Sarangi, Delgado, Das; Lalhimpuia, Vinit, Tebar, Guedes; Jerry M, Onwu, Nandha.

Kerala Blasters XI: Bilal; Lalruatthara, Gaikwad, Drobarov, Jessel; Sahal, Gning, Zuiverloon, Narzary; Ogbeche, Messi.

Match preview

Odisha FC will look to end its league season on a winning note when it hosts Kerala Blasters FC at the Kalinga Stadium on Sunday.

The home side’s hopes of making it to the play-offs ended on Saturday when Chennaiyin FC piped Mumbai City FC to finish fourth.

Josep Gombau has been proud of the performance from his players throughout the season as he reckons they have improved.

“For a young team, for a new team which has just moved to the city, it is good enough to finish fifth, " he said. "[This is] just the beginning of a very good project. In the next season, the fields will be better, along with the training grounds. The young players will be more experienced."

Manuel Onwu has been a revelation for Odisha since his loan move from Bengaluru FC. The forward has netted four goals in three outings as opposed to none in over 370 minutes with the Blues .

Meanwhile, Kerala Blasters did not have a memorable campaign either. Injuries hampered its season with every foreign signing of the club spending sometime on the sidelines. Sandesh Jhingan was ruled out at the start of the season, which didn’t help its cause either.

Coach Eelco Schattorie was forced to change his starting eleven in almost every match and it was difficult for Kerala to get on a consistent run of positive results given the constant chopping and changing.

“This season, we are going to play game number 18 tomorrow and 17 times I had to change the team - not because I want to change but because I had to,” said the Dutchman. “In the end, we played some very good games. Many teams, after the games, complimented us for the way we played against them. But to really win and have a little bit of luck also, you need to be consistent by playing with the same group for at least 70-to-80 per cent of the games with the same eleven,” he said.

Bartholomew Ogbeche has yet again shown his class with 13 goals from 15 matches. The onus will once again be on him to lead his troops and end the season on a winning note.

Match details

Odisha vs Kerala Blasters will be telecast on the Star Sports network and can be streamed live on Hotstar. The kick-off is at 7:30 PM IST.