Odisha FC and Mumbai City FC played out a goalless draw at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 tonight as the Juggernauts were unable to find the back of the net for the first time in a home encounter after 10 matches.
The game began on a positive note for the Juggernauts, as they stepped on the offensive right from the onset to assert their gameplay into the proceedings. Their dynamic frontline means that Odisha FC can often put together multiple gameplays that break the backline of their adversaries, and Diego Mauricio was pretty inventive in one such approach of his in the ninth minute.
The fleet-footed Brazilian received the ball with his back on the goal, but showed great agility in turning around and finding sufficient space to take an effort at finding the back of the net. However, Mauricio didn’t find any of his teammates in a promising position near to the goal, and hence backed his instincts to unleash a cracking effort from distance, which had some venom in it but whisked past the target. Though it didn’t open the scoring, the shot surely did alert the Mumbai City FC defence.
Mumbai City FC attacked at the other end with some stellar efforts, particularly in the first few minutes of the second half. They threw their entire attacking unit at the Odisha FC defence to outnumber the home side and catch them off-guard. In the 48th minute, the duo of Vikram Partap Singh and Nikolaos Karelis combined seamlessly inside the box but Odisha FC goalkeeper Amrinder Singh blocked the latter’s shot on time.
The offensive endeavour wasn’t neutralised completely though, as Jeremy Manzorro swung into action, charging ahead and launching a vicious effort that again required Amrinder’s quick reflexes for Odisha FC to keep the scores levelled. Mumbai City FC possibly realised that the momentum was favouring them and hence they doubled down on their efforts. Manzorro was a key figure in driving these attacks forward, as his creative vision coupled with an eye for a goal meant that he was handed an important role right in the attacking midfield position to explore opportunities for the visitors.
In the 53rd minute, he sliced open the Juggernauts’ backline with a breath-taking through ball for Jayesh Rane at the centre of the 18-yard box. Rane was prompt to jump upon the chance and took a formidable shot that was again saved by Amrinder.
The two teams kept pushing for the three points with the inspired introductions of Raynier Fernandes and PN Noufal for Odisha FC and Mumbai City FC in the 73rd and 81st minutes of the game respectively. However, they simultaneously balanced their defensive duties and eventually had to settle for a point each.
( Source: ISL Media)
