Four goals came in the first half and none in the second as Odisha FC and Kerala Blasters FC had to settle for a draw in the Indian Super League 2024-25 season on Thursday at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar. (Highlights | More Football News)
The Blasters started on a high, consistently finding spaces in a poorly organised Odisha FC defence. The visitors would strike in the 18th minute with Noah Sadaoui finding the back of the net with a clean strike from the box after Jesus Jimenez's pass. After three minutes, the duo switched roles, Sadaoui came up with the assist and Jimenez scored, to double Blasters' lead.
Odisha FC were forced to pay for their poor defending and Kerala Blasters were 2-0 despite a few close misses. Even after trailing, the Juggernauts would keep their high press intact looking for scoring opportunities and soon they would find one.
In the 29th minute, the opportunity came through a mistake from Kerala Blasters' goalkeeper Sachin Suresh that helped the Juggernauts reduce the deficit. A poor collection from Suresh at the goalmouth saw the ball rebound off Blasters' defender Alexandre Coeff into the goal.
Just like their opponents, the Juggernauts too struck the second blow within minutes of the first. Diego Maurício played a smart one-two with Jerry Mawihmingthanga to sneak past the Blasters' defence and fire a right footed shot from the centre of the box to level the scores. Both sides headed into the half-time with score locked at 2-2.
The second half saw both teams missing numerous chances. Odisha looked the better side of the two in the second half but no team would be able to find any goal for the next 45 minutes. After a plenty of misses, the final whistle came and both teams walked away with a point each.
Kerala Blasters have now five points in four matches while Odisha FC have four in the same number of outings.
