ISL 2020-21 highlights: Odisha FC, Kerala Blasters play out 2-2 draw

ISL 2020-21, OFC vs KBFC Updates: Get all the Indian Super League news, score and commentary from the game between Odisha FC and Kerala Blaters FC in Goa.

Odisha FC striker Diego Mauricio celebrates his goal against Kerala Blasters FC in the 2020-21 Indian Super League on Thursday.

This is Sportstar's match blog/highlights of the ISL 2020-21 encounter between Odisha FC and Kerala Blasters FC which happened at the Fatorda Stadium on Thursday.

That's all we have for the night. We will be back tomorrow for East Bengal vs Hyderabad FC. Until then, it's good night!

OFC head coach Gerry Peyton: I think my team was very motivated from the start. We knew that Kerala Blasters were going to come hard at us. We had a plan to not allow them to run through us and executed it to perfection. Our backline was very compact. I was very impressed with Brad Inman's performance. He linked up well with Diego Mauricio up front. We could have won the game in the end. Brad and Jacob Tratt had great chances to seal the deal. I'm disappointed that those didn't go in. Kerala is a talented side with top players. It did have chances and missed it. I'm happy with my players' performance because they did exactly what I wanted.

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KBFC forward Jordan Murray: Today was extremely disappointing. We have an outside chance to make the playoffs, but it's very small. Hopefully, we can get nine points from the remaining three games. I thought, in the first half, we controlled majority of the game. We wanted to come back with the same intensity in the second half and put pressure on Odisha. We missed opportunities and they got the two goals necessary. We should have been more clinical up front. From here, it's about playing for pride and getting as many points as possible. I just want to keep improving my game and also help others in my team to keep improving each day.

Post match reaction from both the camps coming up next.....

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:

Jordan Murray and Gary Hooper score a goal each as KBFC moves above SC East Bengal into ninth in the 2020-21 ISL standings, with 16 points. Meanwhile, OFC is still rooted to the bottom of the table with nine points.

Kerala Blasters FC's wastefulness up front continued as it could only score two goals after attempting 29 shots in the match. Diego Mauricio scored the first and last goals of the game to hand Odisha FC a valuable point.

AND IT'S FULL-TIME! FINAL SCORE: ODISHA FC 2 - 2 KERALA BLASTERS FC!!!

90+2' SUBSTITUTION! One final throw of the dice from Kerala Blasters FC manager Kibu Vicuna. He brings on Jessel Carneiro to replace Yondrembem Denechandra in the middle. Vicuna isn't happy with the injury time given here.

90' Three minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the second half! Arshdeep Singh pulls off brilliant save for Odisha FC at the other end now. He reacts well to Juande's shot from outside the box and pushes the ball away from danger.

88' WHAT A SAVE! This is without a doubt Odisha FC's best chance of the match. Cole Alexander played a brilliant long pass towards the substitute Laishram Singh, who cut back and teed up Bradden Inman at close range. But Albino Gomes dived full-stretch to his right and denied the OFC attacker.

85' CHANCE FOR OFC! Bradden Inman takes the ball forward on the left flank. He evades an opposition defender and sends a cross towards the far post. Diego Mauricio misses the ball by a whisker as KBFC regains possession.

82' SHOT! Sahal Abdul Samad gets another chance to score tonight. He lets one fly from the edge of the box. He should have at least hit the target here. This pretty much sums up Kerala Blasters' tournament.

79' SUBSTITUTIONS FROM EITHER SIDE! Laishram Singh and Shubham Sarangi replace Jerry Mawihmingthanga and Hendry Antonay on the field for Odisha FC, while Prasanth Karuthadathkuni comes in for Rahul KP for Kerala Blasters FC.

76' AND IT IS TIME FOR THE FINAL DRINKS BREAK OF THE GAME!

74' GOOOOAAAAALLLL!!!!!!!! MAURICIO SCORES AGAIN!!! ODISHA FC 2 - 2 KERALA BLASTERS FC!!!!!! Vinit Rai has the ball on the right flank and he sends a pass towards Bradden Inman, who in turn finds Diego Mauricio at the far post. The Brazilian striker executes a simple tap-in to beat KBFC shot-stopper Albino Gomes.

70' ANOTHER CHANCE FOR KBFC! Once again, Sahal Abdul Samad tries to set up Gary Hooper inside the box. But this time, the final shot goes out for a goal-kick.

68' GOOOOAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!!!! GARY HOOPER SCORES!!!!!!!!!! KERALA BLASTERS FC 2 - 1 ODISHA FC!!!!! Vicente Gomez plays a long ball from midfield. Sahal Abdul Samad receives it and assists Gary Hooper at close range. Hooper takes a good first touch and smashes the ball past custodian Arshdeep Singh into the far post.

66' CROSS! Mohd Sajid Dhot sends in a cross from the right wing towards his Odisha FC teammate Diego Mauricio. But Kerala keeper Albino Gomes comes off his line to collect the ball.

63' SHOT! Rahul KP gets the ball on the right flank. He moves closer to goal and takes a shot from a narrow angle. The ball misses the target by quite a bit.

61' OFC CHANCE! The Kerala Blasters defence just switched off for a moment here. Diego Mauricio received the ball at the edge of the box but his attempted cross into the box was blocked by Costa Nhamoinesu.

58' Kerala Blasters FC has gained the advantage in the possession game once again. Odisha FC is just sitting back to defend. KBFC manager Kibu Vicuna looks animated on the sidelines.

55' SUBSTITUTION! It's the first change of the match and Odisha FC manager Gerry Peyton makes it. He brings on Daniel Lalhlimpuia to replace Rakesh Pradhan in the middle.

52' GOOOOAAAAAALLLL!!!!!!! JORDAN MURRAY SCORESSSSSSSS!!! KERALA BLASTERS FC 1 - 1 ODISHA FC!!!!! Odisha FC lost the ball close to the box. Gary Hooper got to it. He dribbled past an onrushing Arshdeep Singh and sent in a low cross into the box. Mohd Sajid Dhot, who was closest to the ball, didn't see Murray coming from behind. Murray reached the ball first and slotted it home.

48' EARLY CHANCE FOR KBFC! There's a throw-in on the right flank. Rahul KP receives the ball and sends a cross into the box. Jordan Murray misses the ball and it reaches Sahal Abdul Samad, who misses the target with his shot.

THE SECOND HALF IS UNDERWAY!

Forty-five minutes to go. Stay tuned!

Kerala Blasters FC was clearly the better side in the first half. But Odisha FC has the 1-0 lead, thanks to a good move from Jerry Mawihmingthanga and Diego Mauricio, who has eight goals in the tournament so far.

AND IT'S HALF-TIME! SCORE: ODISHA FC 1 - 0 KERALA BLASTERS FC!!!

45+2' Two minutes of stoppage time was added on at the end of the first half! Kerala is now attacking with numbers forward. But don't think the team will have enough time before the break to find the equaliser.

45' GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!! DIEGO MAURICIO SCORES!!!!! ODISHA FC 1 - 0 KERALA BLASTERS FC!!!  This a brilliant counter-attack against the run of play. The Kerala Blasters defence was caught napping here. Jerry Mawihmingthanga executed a one-two pass with Mauricio first. He then chipped a ball towards the Brazilian striker inside the box. Mauricio made no mistake with his finish as Odisha takes the lead.

42' CORNER FOR KBFC! Sahal Abdul Samad will take this one. His delivery into the box reaches Jordan Murray at the near post.  However, Murray's header is cleared at the goalline by Rakesh Pradhan.

39' CROSS! Rahul KP puts up a pacy run on the right wing. He dribbles past Hendry Antonay in style and sends a low cross towards Gary Hooper. But Jacob Tratt intercepts the ball and kicks it away.

36' CORNER FOR OFC! Bradden Inman will take the set-piece for Odisha FC. He sends a cross into the box. But Kerala goalkeeper Albino Gomes is fouled as the Blasters regain possession.

34' ANOTHER MISTAKE FROM OFC! This time, Jordan Murray gets an opportunity to find the back of the net. But once again, his shot goes way off target. KBFC missing chance after chance here.

32' AND IT IS TIME FOR THE FIRST HALF COOLING BREAK!

30' WHAT A CHANCE FOR KBFC! Steven Taylor loses the ball cheaply. Sahal Abdul Samad gets to it and sets up Gary Hooper at close range. But the Kerala forward fires the ball wide.

27' YELLOW CARD! This is the first booking of the match. Kerala Blasters FC defender Sandeep Singh is penalised by the referee for a silly tackle on Odisha FC's Rakesh Pradhan, who goes to the ground. The OFC physio rushes to the field to treat his player.

24' Despite all the domination in the attacking and passing stats, Kerala Blasters FC hasn't hit the target even once tonight. This has been the story of Kibu Vicuna's side this season. It hasn't been able to utilise chances and has paid a heavy price for that.

21' FREE-KICK FOR OFC! Jerry Mawihmingthanga is fouled by Yondrembem Denechandra. The referee awards a set-piece for Odisha. Rakesh Pradhan will take it. His delivery is poor as the ball goes over the goalpost.

18' CLOSE! Sahal Abdul Samad evades a couple of tackles and enters the final third. But his shot from the edge of the box is blocked by Odisha skipper Steven Taylor.

15' Odisha FC is clearly struggling here. There's not one proper attacking move from the team so far. The OFC players are getting dispossessed way too often right now.

12' ANOTHER KBFC CHANCE! Sandeep Singh and Rahul KP execute a good one-two pass. Sandeep sprints with the ball towards the corner flag. After a brief struggle with OFC full-back Hendry Antonay, he lets the ball go out for a goal-kick.

9' SHOT! Jordan Murray receives a good pass from midfield. He dribbles past an opposition player and gets close to the box. However, his final shot goes way over the crossbar.

6' CROSS! Hooper moves forward with the ball yet again. He tries to send in a cross from the right flank but the Odisha centre-back duo comes to their team's rescue and clears the ball away.

3' Good start from the Kerala Blasters here. Gary Hooper and Jordan Murray are complementing each other well already. The Odisha FC backline must be absolutely careful.

7:30 PM: AND THE MATCH BEGINS!

7:15 PM: As Odisha FC and Kerala Blasters FC gear up to square off in match 90 of the 2020-21 Indian Super League, here are all the important stats, players to watch out for and head-to-head record from the fixtures involving the two sides. ( FULL STORY )

7:00 PM: Podcast - The lastest episode of 'The Full Time Show' features the Robbie Fowler interview with our reporters Shyam Vasudevan and Amitabha Das Sharma. We also take a deep dive into his controversy-courting maiden ISL coaching sojourn and his season with SC East Bengal.

6:45 PM: Three changes for Odisha FC tonight! Gaurav Bora, Paul Ramfangzauva and Manuel Onwu have made way for Hendry Antonay, Steven Taylor and Bradden Inman in Gerry Peyton's lineup.

Meanwhile, there are two alterations for Kerala Blasters FC! Jeakson Singh and Gary Hooper have been brought on to replace Bakary Kone and Prasanth Karuthadathkuni in Kibu Vicuna's playing XI.

6:30 PM: The team lineups are out!

OFC XI: Arshdeep Singh, Mohd Sajid Dhot, Hendry Antonay, Cole Alexander, Bradden Inman, Diego Mauricio, Vinit Rai, Jerry Mawihmingthanga, Jacob Tratt, Steven Taylor, Rakesh Pradhan.

COACH: Gerry Peyton.

KBFC XI: Albino Gomes, Sandeep Singh, Jordan Murray, Jeakson Singh, Rahul KP, Sahal Abdul Samad, Vicente Gomez, Costa Nhamoinesu, Juande, Yondrembem Denechandra, Gary Hooper.

COACH: Kibu Vicuna.

Follow Sportstar's full coverage (Latest news, Interviews, Features, Points table, Quiz, Videos) of ISL 2020-21 .

The seventh edition of the Indian Super League got underway inside a bio-bubble in Goa on November 20.

The tournament, spanning over four months, will see 11 teams play each other in a league and playoff format across three venues. Following the inclusion of SC East Bengal, this season will feature 115 games, up from 95 last season.

ISL 2020: Points Table

MATCH PREVIEW:

Twice in their last two matches, the Kerala Blasters' men were in the lead, and twice they lost. Blasters will desperately be hoping for a reversal of their fortunes when they take on Odisha FC in the battle between the basement dwellers in the Indian Super League at the Fatorda Stadium, Margao, on Thursday.

Odisha is lying at the bottom of the 11-team league, with eight points, and has little hopes of making the playoffs. It is not all over yet mathematically for Blasters, which has 15 points, but it cannot afford another defeat. And it certainly won't want a repeat of the result when the two teams met the first time around this season.

Odisha had triumphed 4-2 in a goal fest a month ago. That, however, remains the only win of the season for Odisha, which has since played six games.

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Kerala, of course, has fared much better and has to its credit three wins, but its inability to finish the job after beginning well should be cause for concern for coach Kibu Vicuna. “Our objective is to get 12 points (from our remaining four matches) but we will take it step-by-step,” he said.

 “Tomorrow is an opportunity to get the points and be closer to the teams that have better chances of qualifying for the playoffs.”

His counterpart, Gerald Peyton, acknowledged Kerala was a strong side. “I think they’ve got some good players.,” he said.

“Tactically, we know how they play and will match them in every area. They play a 4-4-2 and we are going to play the same way. We are going to make it difficult for them and I think we can do the double over them.”

ISL 2020-21 will be televised live at 7.30 pm IST on Star Sports and live streamed on Disney+Hotstar and Jio TV