Tough Start for the Kalinga Warriors as league campaign takes shape
Odisha FC faced a challenging week, suffering consecutive defeats in their first two ISL 2024-25 matches. A disappointing 3-2 loss against Chennaiyin FC at the Warriors' home ground, Kalinga Stadium, was followed by another setback in Delhi, where they fell 2-1 to Punjab FC at the JLN Stadium.
A couple of injuries have added to the woes of the team early on.
It has been an unusually slow start for Sergio Lobera’s squad in the ISL, with the team coming up second best against Chennaiyin in the opening match. The Kalinga Warriors made an encouraging start when Diego Mauricio scored from the spot to put the hosts ahead. However, a brace from Farukh Choudhary and a goal from Daniel Chima Chukwu put the Supermachans 3-1 up, leaving Roy Krishna’s late goal as a mere consolation for Odisha FC.
Lobera refused to single out any player in the post-match press conference, stating that injuries were “no excuse” and that the performance was well below expectations. He emphasized that it was not about one or two players, but rather the team as a whole that needed to deliver.
The team traveled to Delhi for their first away game of the ISL season on September 20. They were without injured defender Carlos Delgado and saw Mourtada Fall start in defence alongside Thoiba Singh. The team went into the halftime break a goal down and made substitutions after the restart, bringing on Ahmed Jahouh, Rahim Ali, and Jerry Mawia for Diego Mauricio, Raynier Fernandes, and Isak Ralte.
Odisha FC had a better second half, creating chances and taking the game to Punjab FC. However, they failed to find the net until the 95th minute, when Hugo Boumos’ shot deflected off the post and into the goal off keeper Ravi Kumar for an own goal. While it gave the Juggernauts a glimmer of hope, it was too late as the Shers held on for their second straight win. The goals for Punjab came from Nihal Sudeesh and Leon Augustine.
“A lot of things went wrong. They (Punjab FC) were better than us, and they deserve to win. The first half was very disappointing. I think we improved our level of play in the second half. We created chances but also conceded many opportunities to our opponents. It’s true that we scored a goal, but I believe they could have scored earlier because we gave away too many chances,” Coach Sergio Lobera said in the post-match conference.
Up Next:
Odisha FC vs Jamshedpur FC
28th Sep, 2024
Kick Off: 5pm
Kalinga Stadium
Live on Sports18 & JioCinema
Tough Start for the Kalinga Warriors as league campaign takes shape
Odisha FC faced a challenging week, suffering consecutive defeats in their first two ISL 2024-25 matches. A disappointing 3-2 loss against Chennaiyin FC at the Warriors' home ground, Kalinga Stadium, was followed by another setback in Delhi, where they fell 2-1 to Punjab FC at the JLN Stadium.
A couple of injuries have added to the woes of the team early on.
It has been an unusually slow start for Sergio Lobera’s squad in the ISL, with the team coming up second best against Chennaiyin in the opening match. The Kalinga Warriors made an encouraging start when Diego Mauricio scored from the spot to put the hosts ahead. However, a brace from Farukh Choudhary and a goal from Daniel Chima Chukwu put the Supermachans 3-1 up, leaving Roy Krishna’s late goal as a mere consolation for Odisha FC.
Lobera refused to single out any player in the post-match press conference, stating that injuries were “no excuse” and that the performance was well below expectations. He emphasized that it was not about one or two players, but rather the team as a whole that needed to deliver.
The team traveled to Delhi for their first away game of the ISL season on September 20. They were without injured defender Carlos Delgado and saw Mourtada Fall start in defence alongside Thoiba Singh. The team went into the halftime break a goal down and made substitutions after the restart, bringing on Ahmed Jahouh, Rahim Ali, and Jerry Mawia for Diego Mauricio, Raynier Fernandes, and Isak Ralte.
Odisha FC had a better second half, creating chances and taking the game to Punjab FC. However, they failed to find the net until the 95th minute, when Hugo Boumos’ shot deflected off the post and into the goal off keeper Ravi Kumar for an own goal. While it gave the Juggernauts a glimmer of hope, it was too late as the Shers held on for their second straight win. The goals for Punjab came from Nihal Sudeesh and Leon Augustine.
“A lot of things went wrong. They (Punjab FC) were better than us, and they deserve to win. The first half was very disappointing. I think we improved our level of play in the second half. We created chances but also conceded many opportunities to our opponents. It’s true that we scored a goal, but I believe they could have scored earlier because we gave away too many chances,” Coach Sergio Lobera said in the post-match conference.
Up Next:
Odisha FC vs Jamshedpur FC
28th Sep, 2024
Kick Off: 5pm
Kalinga Stadium
Live on Sports18 & JioCinema
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