Ratings: Diego Mauricio helps Odisha FC lift Hero Super Cup 2023

This is the first-ever trophy for Odisha FC.

Odisha FC clinched the 2023 Hero Super Cup title with a 2-1 win over Bengaluru FC in the final on Tuesday. Diego Mauricio scored an impressive brace in the first half, and a late penalty from Sunil Chhetri wasn’t enough to get the Blues back into the game.

In doing so, Odisha won their first-ever trophy since their inception and will now be able to fight for a place in the AFC Cup.

Here are the Player Ratings for the game.

Bengaluru FC

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu – 4.5

Gurpreet made an awful error giving Odisha FC the lead, totally miscuing Mauricio’s free-kick and letting it go through his hands. Couldn’t do much to save the second, but made some nice steps after that.

Namgyal Bhutia – 5.0

Bhutia struggled to keep up with the in-form Nadhakumar Sekar and left his backline exposed with some poor movement at times. Taken off at half-time.

Bruno Ramires – 5.5

Ramires’ issues as a make-shift centre-back were exposed, as he struggled to read Mauricio’s movements or stop him from blaring into the final third. Moved to a midfield role in second half, where he progressed the the ball forward. 

Sandesh Jhingan – 4.5

Jhingan was tormented by Mauricio and lost track of him multiple times in the game. Lost quite a few duels in key areas and allowed Mauricio to beat him in an aerial battle to grab his second. He was shaky with his challenges and couldn’t command a strong-enough backline.

Naorem Roshan Singh – 5.0

Singh was caused major trouble by Jerry Mawihmingthanga, not being able to mark him properly or stop his crossing or shooting efforts. Sent in a few nice crosses, but unable to make any real impact.

Rohit Kumar – 6.0

Rohit was energetic as always in midfield, making some nice runs into the final third too. But he struggled to get the ball off the Odisha FC midfielders as well as missing a decent chance in the first half.

Suresh Singh – 5.0

Suresh couldn’t protect his backline properly, struggling to stop Odisha FC’s fast-breaks or movements through central areas. Conceded the free-kick for the opening goal and was unable to create much either.

Jayesh Rane – 5.0

Rane struggled to provide the creative touch which Javi Hernandez brings and couldn’t really pressurize the Odisha FC players either. Taken off at half-time.

Udanta Singh – 6.5

Udanta made some great runs through the right, troubling Panwar. He managed to swirl into the final third on a few occasions and set up a decent chance for Sunil Chhetri in the first half but the chance was put wide.

Sunil Chhetri – 7.0

Chhetri was on the end of Bengaluru FC’s biggest chances, missing a tough chance in the first half and then putting a header wide in the second half. Scored an impressive penalty to bring a lifeline for Bengaluru.

Roy Krishna – 6.0

Krishna’s threat was neutralized by Odisha FC, as he was hardly able to do much in his rotating role. Got himself into some promising areas inside the box, but failed to get much service.

Substitutes

Prabir Das – 6.0

Unable to bring much creative threat, but contributed defensively to stop a few daunting Odisha FC attacks.

Aleksandar Jovanovic – 6.0

Jovanovic ensured Bengaluru FC’s backline wasn’t as open as it was in first half, but even he struggled to deal with Mauricio.

Pablo Perez – 6.5

Perez added more drive to Bengaluru FC’s midfield, carrying the ball forward and making more progressive passes than Rane.

Sivasakthi Narayanan – 7.0

Siva added a real threat with his clever movement and incisiveness. Won Bengaluru FC the penalty with a smart run and being brought down in the box.

Odisha FC

Amrinder Singh – 6.0

Amrinder hardly had saves to make. He guessed Chhetri’s penalty well, but couldn’t save it. Dealt well with Bengaluru FC’s set-pieces with his timely clearances.

Narender Gahlot – 8.5

Nareder was rock-solid at the right and played a big role in neutralizing Bengaluru FC’s flow through his side. Kept both Chhetri and Roshan from creating chances, coming up with some vital challenges in a gritty outing.

Osama Malik – 7.5

Malik maintained a pretty mean backline for Odisha FC, not giving Bengaluru FC any open space in the box. Dealt well with their crosses with his timely clearances.

Carlos Delgado – 7.5

Delgado did a pretty solid job in not allowing Krishna any empty space in his area, keeping a tight mark on him. Anticipated Bengaluru FC’s moves well, coming up with clutch challenges to ruin their efforts.

Sahil Panwar – 7.0

Sahil was occasionally troubled by the pace of Udanta and Sivasakthi, but held his own on the left. Came up with vital tackles to avert danger and maintained solid positioning to ensure Bengaluru FC couldn’t attack through his side.

Thoiba Singh – 6.5

Thoiba protected his backline with a bullish performance, being an energetic and aggressive figure in midfield. He won the ball multiple times for Odisha FC and helped the fast-breaks with his smart progressive passes.

Princeton Rebello – 7.0

Rebello helped Odisha FC control the midfield battle with his smart positioning and impressive distribution ability. He helped circulating the ball from their own half to the Bengaluru FC defensive third, working hard to frustrate the Blues.  

Jerry Mawihmingthanga – 7.5

Jerry definitely got the better of the gritty Naorem Roshan Singh and ruled things on the right. Got into the open spaces time and again, which allowed him to smartly set up Mauricio’s second goal. Almost scored from a surging strike late in the first half, only to see it hit the bar.

Victor Rodriguez – 8.0

Victor was the connecting element in the attack, making some excellent passes to send the forwards through on goal. Set up Mauricio’s second with an excellent cross allowing Jerry to assist it. Was a thorn for Bengaluru FC with his constant defence-splitting passes and linked-up really well with Mauricio to cause trouble.

Nandhakumar Sekar – 7.0

Nandha finished his Hero Super Cup campaign with another encouraging performance. He got into some impressive empty spaces time and again and linked up superbly with his fellow forwards. Delivered some great passes into the box and came close to scoring, seeing his effort saved by Gurpreet.

Diego Mauricio – 9.0

Maurcio proved why he’s recognized as the best striker in India by coming up big. A bit fortunate with his first goal that went through Gurpreet, but showcased predatorial instinct to stick in the second one.

Substitutes

Aniket Jadhav – 6.0

Jadhav came close to scoring after coming on, seeing a powerful effort go wide. Unfortunately, conceded a penalty with a needle foul on Siva late on.

Saul Crespo – 6.5

The Spaniard helped bring more defensive cover to his backline, making some vital late clearances and helping move the ball around better.

Paul Ramfangzauva – 6.0

The energetic midfielder added some much-needed legs to Odisha and helped his side get the job done.

Isak Vanlalruatfela – N/A

Isak had some half-chances to go through on goal, but couldn’t take them well enough.

Pedro Martin – N/A

Martin wasn’t able to add much attacking threat in the final bits of the game.