Odisha FC and NorthEast United FC have ended up with an entertaining 2-2 draw in the Indian Super League 2020-21 on Saturday night.
Diego Mauricio Scored the first goal for The Kalinga Warriors in the 23rd minute. The Highlanders drew parity at the dying moment of the first half as Benjamin Lambot‘s glancing header touched the nets.
At the 65th minute of the game, Kwesi Appiah converted the penalty and NorthEast. But the lead didn’t last long as Cole Alexander score his first goal of the Indian Super League and equalized the match.
Both teams shared 1 point each. Odisha climbed to 10th position and are still winless whereas NorthEast position is unchanged, 4th.
Odisha 2-2 NorthEast United Team News:
NorthEast United manager Gerard Nus made 4 changes in their line-ups against Odisha. Fanai Lalrempuia replaced Khassa Camara, Federico Gallego replaced Rochharzela, Britto PM replaced Ninthoinganba Meetei and Luis Machado replaced Idrissa Sylla. NorthEast changed their Formation to 4-3-3.
Odisha manager Stuart Baxter made no changes with their line-ups against NorthEast. Odisha’s formation remained unchanged as they went with the same 4-3-3
Odisha 2-2 NorthEast United Match Analysis:
Both of the team started dominating minded. Diego Mauricio put Odisha ahead in the 23rd minute with a phenomenal strike, but the side conceded the lead in the last minute of first-half added time. NorthEast United captain Benjamin Lambot fired a fantastic header to level the score before the half time.
NorthEast took the lead 21 minutes later in the second half when Kwesi Appiah struck successfully converted the penalty from the spot. However, the lead was short-lived as Alexander scores soon after to ensure Odisha took home a point.
Notable Performances:
Cole Alexander: He scored his first goal of the ISL and would look forward to getting more in his account.
Diego Mauricio: He has been in good attacking form. he scored a total of 3 goals in this ISL season so far.
Kwesi Appiah: Has over 50% passing accuracy. He has scored 3 goals yet this season. One of the best attacking forward players for Highlanders.
Post-Match Comments:
I think we deserved the three points. I think we had a really great performance with the ball. It was probably the game that we deserved more to score compared to other games.
-Gerard Nus
I don’t really accept the congratulations on the draw. I think we have this habit, a bad one, that turns happy endings into sob stories. We stopped playing in our shape and did not have the right intentions on the ball and we started taking too many touches, we sometimes get panicky.
Moreover, we are doing more and more of the good things and less bad stuff but the latter is still costing us dearly. We are improving I think but it’s slow
-Stuart Baxter
Odisha face another struggling side SC East Bengal on 3rd July in their next fixture. NorthEast United face high-flying ATK Mohun Bagan on the same day in their next fixture.
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