XtraTime Web Desk – The two teams at the bottom of the table faced each other with the hope of all three points. They do need it at this stage to finish the league in a better position but after 90 minutes, they were inseparable.
As the result indicates, the match was evenly poised throughout. Both Kerala Blasters and Odisha FC created fair amount of chances. Gary Hooper’s effort in the 31st minute was significant because it was the first real chance that any of the team created so far in the match. Hopper shoots wide as goalkeeper had very little to do.
Juande got a great chance in the 34th minute. After a blunder from Arshdeep, Hooper passed the ball to Juande who failed to keep it on target as Kerala missed another great opportunity to score.
It was Odisha who picked up the first goal of the match. Once again it was their main man, Diego Mauricio who did the job in the 45th minute as Odisha was leading going into the break.
Kerala hit back strongly in the second half. Murray picked up a goal in the 52nd minute to bring Kerala into level terms and then in the 68th minute, Hopper put Kerala ahead from a brilliant finish. Kerala were leading 2-1 by then but if luck favoured them, Odisha could’ve even win the game.
Mauricio put his second in the 74th minute from an easy tap-in as the match headed to its last phrase. In the 89th minute, Odisha got a massive chance to score but Brad Inman’s shot was brilliantly saved by Albino Gomes to earn Kerala a point.
Kerala moved up to 9th in the table with the point as Blasters now have 16 points from 17 games while Odisha now has 9 points from 16 games and remains in the 11th spot.