New Delhi [India], November 7 (ANI): Indian Super League (ISL) club Odisha FC clinched a 3-2 win against Maziya SRC in their fourth game in Group D of the AFC Cup 2023-24 at the Maldives National Football Stadium in Male on Tuesday.
Naiz Hassan (2′) and Vojislav Balabanovic (26′) scored for Maziya in the first half of the game. However, Odisha made a stunning comeback with three goals in the second half. Goals from Mourtada Fall (66′), Diego Mauricio (72′) and Roy Krishna (84′) helped Odisha FC to get the taste of the victory.
Following the match, Odisha FC moved to the second position in the four-team Group D standings with six from four outings, a release said.
The Indian club Odisha FC’s other win in the tournament came against Maziya in the home leg when they beat them by 6-1 at Bhubaneswar last month.
Maziya took the lead two minutes after the opening whistle with the home crowd backing them. Soon after Ibrahim Aisam’s shot from outside the box sailed wide, the Maziya player set up teammate Naiz Hassan for the opener as the OFC defence halted to look for an offside flag, which never came.
The early cushion allowed Maziya to drop down deep with the pressure on Odisha to find an equaliser goal in the match. Sergio Lobera’s Odisha FC played an attacking game in response with Ahmed Jahouh pulling the strings from midfield but none amounted to a goal.
Meanwhile, the home side looked comfortable in the game and looked for counters. in the first half, Maziya’s Serbian striker Vojislav Balabanovic was pulled down in the Odisha box by Mourtada Fall and the referee instantly pointed towards the spot. Balabanovic scored past Odisha FC goalkeeper Amrinder Singh to double his team’s lead.
Both teams played out some half-chances but the score remained 2-0 at half-time.
Odisha FC slowly grew into the match after the start of the second half. Mourtada Fall scored the opening goal for Odisha.
The Senegalese centre-back outjumped the Maziya defence to attempt a powerful header in the game. After that, Diego Mauricio levelled the scoreline for Odisha with another header.
Both teams tried to attack after the score was levelled. After both goalkeepers made some important saves, Roy Krishna helped Odisha to take the lead in the match.
Roy made his way to a shooting position from the right and buried his shot in the far corner with the outside of his boot.
Odisha FC will play Mohun Bagan Super Giant in their next AFC Cup 2023-24 Group D match at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on November 27. (ANI)
