Ratings: Nandha, Mobashir star in Odisha FC, East Bengal cagey affair

This was the first ever draw between these two sides.

Odisha FC played out a 1-1 draw against East Bengal in their first group stage game at the Hero Super Cup on Sunday. The Red & Gold Brigade took the lead against the run of play in the 38th minute, with Mobashir Rahman pouncing on an error to make it 1-0.

However, Clifford Miranda’s side were not to be denied of points on the day. Diego Mauricio huffed and puffed, before setting up the equalizer for Nandhakumar Sekar in the 73rd minute. Both sides had chances afterwards but failed to convert them, leading to them to splitting points.

Here are the player ratings for the game.

Odisha FC

Amrinder Singh – 6.0

Singh was unable to deny Mobashir’s well-struck shot, but made a few nice saves to frustrate the Red & Gold Brigade.

Narender Gahlot – 4.5

Gifted Mobashir his opening goal with a really sloppy error. Looked sloppy at times and allowed quite a few moves through his side.

Thoiba Singh – 5.5

Thoiba played in the backline yet again and was quite proactive in cutting down chances. However, he lost mark on Jake Jervis quite often and struggled with his distribution at times.

Carlos Delgado – 6.0

Kept a close mark on Cleiton Silva and didn’t let him get many chances in the first half. Pulled his hamstring after the break and was taken off soon.

Sahil Panwar – N/R

Picked up an injury before the half-hour mark and saw his game cut short.

Princeton Rebello – 6.0

Rebello made his debut for Odisha FC and did his job relatively well in progressing the ball forward smoothly. Not that alert defensively, allowing a few swift breaks.

Saul Crespo – 6.0

Crespo helped Odisha FC control the game by moving the ball swiftly in the midfield. He also helped with ball retention as well.

Victor Rodriguez – 6.0

The Spaniard wasn’t as influential as he really is, but he did move things around smoothly in midfield and tested Kamaljit Singh with a thunderous effort in the second half.  

Jerry Mawhimingthanga – 5.5

Jerry struggled to get much freedom on the right and couldn’t get the better of Tuhin Das, failing to concede anything big.

Diego Mauricio – 8.0

Mauricio was a menace for the East Bengal defenders and continued soaring forward with the ball. Came close to scoring in the first half and created some big chances in the second, including a brilliant bit of play to assist Nandha’s equalizer.

Nandhakumar Sekar – 7.5

Nandha troubled East Bengal with his movement and sniffed out chances smartly. Brought Odisha FC level with a well-taken finish after smartly moving into an open central area.

Substitutes

Denechandra Meitei – 6.0

Meitei slotted in well in Panwar’s role and helped in keeping things pretty quiet in his side.

Isak Vanlalruatfela – 5.5

Isak wasn’t really able to do much better than Jerry or create anything big for his side.

Osama Malik – 6.0

Helped see out some late pressure from East Bengal and ensure his side at least got away with a point.

Raynier Fernandes – N/R

Raynier brought more energy to Odisha FC’s midfield but had little influence over their attacking moves.

Aniket Jadhav – N/R

Jadhav couldn’t really haunt his former side and had a quiet late cameo.

East Bengal

Kamaljit Singh – 7.0

Singh was alert in his goal and made a superb double save to deny Odisha FC in the first half (which was given offside ultimately). Kept out quite a few efforts and was secure in dealing with crosses too. Had nothing to do regarding Nandha’s thunderous effort.

Athul Unnikrishnan – 6.0

Athul had a topsy-turvy debut, as he showcased impressive awareness to neutralize Nandha’s movement. However, after a pretty solid game, he was completely bulldozed by Maurcio leading to the equalizer.

Sarthak Golui – 6.5

Sarthak played more centrally and actually helped maintain a secure backline for most of the game. He made some key challenges and was well-positioned, but lost mark on Nandha for the equalizer.

Lalchungnunga – 7.0

Arguably East Bengal’s best defender again, coming up with vital clearances and clutch challenges to frustrate Odisha FC. He was, although, dragged out of position for the equalizer.

Tuhin Das – 6.0

Tuhin wasn’t really able to create much with his crosses but remained defensively disciplined to help his side soak pressure.

Charalambos Kyriakou – 6.0

The versatile player helped East Bengal maintain a sturdy shape and was proactive with keeping Odisha quiet. Taken off at the break.

Alex Lima – 6.5

Lima did well with sending his teammates through with clever forward passes. Also created some chances with his delivery from set-pieces, seeking out Jake Jervis well with corners.

Jake Jervis – 5.0

Jervis tormented Odisha FC with his clever off-the-ball runs in behind the defence and got into some brilliant situations. However, his finishing wasn’t spot-on – as he missed some prominent chances and hit the bar late on. Frustrated with his finishing on the day.

Mobashir Rahman – 8.0

Mobashir showed impressive awareness to pounce on Narender’s mistake before brilliantly finishing past Amrinder for the opener.

Naorem Mahesh Singh – 7.5

Naorem put in another workhorse effort, covering a lot of ground for his side. Defensively solid and created some chances with his smart final third passes – including a huge one in added time that was missed.

Cleiton Silva – 6.0

Silva got very little service in the final third and was again forced to drop deep to create chances. Set up a huge chance for Jervis with a brilliant pass in the second half but the latter failed to convert.

Substitutes

VP Suhair – 6.0

Suhair helped bring a bigger driving force for his side and more defensive cover to the back-four.

Jordan O’Doherty – N/R

The midfielder replaced Mobashir and induced more energy to the midfield late on.