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 their 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 goal line, 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 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.
Later, East Bengal and Hyderabad FC played out a thrilling 3-3 draw. It was a fine comeback by Hyderabad after trailing 1-3 at half-time.
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