Durand Cup: Indian Army earn slender win over Odisha FC

The goal-scorer was himself sent off in the Durand Cup game.

Liton Shil scored and was later sent off as Indian Army Football Team held on to their solitary goal to beat Odisha FC in a Group F fixture of the 132nd IndianOil Durand Cup being played here at the SAI Stadium. Liton Shil gave the lead for the Army side in the 42nd minute which was enough for the side to clinch victory against the ISL side.

Indian Army started the game on the front foot attacking the Odisha box. They could have scored in the very minute of the game as an unmarked Rahul Ramakrishnan failed to capitalize a good cutback from right winger L. Deepak Singh as he could not finish the move Christopher Kamei’s shot was saved by Odisha keeper, Niraj Kumar in the very next attack by the Army side.

Indian Army continued to pile on the pressure on the inexperienced Odisha as their frontline looked threatening in every move. Both teams could not create clear cut chances as the game was mostly played in the center of the park. In the 42nd minute of the game, Samir Murmu played a through ball for center forward Liton Shil who ran past two defenders and finished expertly beyond the Odisha keeper to give the Indian Army side the lead.

Odisha started the second half with more vigor looking for the equalizer but the Army men used their experience to slow down the game and play it to their advantage against the youngsters of Odisha. Liton Shil was always posing a threat for the Odisha defence along with Deepak Singh with Christopher Kamei controlling the proceedings from midfield.

Indian Army were reduced to 10 men in the 77th minute as goal scorer Liton Shil was shown a straight red card for a clumsy foul on Odisha defender Tankadhar Bag. Odisha put continuous pressure on the Army side but the experienced Army men saw off the dangers to open their Durand Cup campaign with a win.

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