Odisha FC secured their second win of the new Indian Super :League season as Pedro martin came up with a late winner against Kerala Blasters at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. It was a very tight game where Harmanjot Singh Khabra scored the opening goal but then Jerry Mawihmingthanga scored the leveler to bring the Juggernauts back in contention.
Later Pedro Martin scored the goal that left Kerala Blasters in splits as they suffered their second consecutive defeat of this season. While last season’s finalists, Kerala are struggling to get positive results, Odisha FC have had a very strong start to their new season with two wins out of three matches.
After the game Odisha FC head coach Josep Gombau shared how it was a special moment for the Juggernauts to win their first home match of this season against a strong Kerala side. ”We are so happy to get a win in our first home game (of the season) here at the Kalinga Stadium with a good result, which is something difficult in this league because all teams are quite good. Kerala Blasters FC are a very good side. We won this game and we are very happy,” stated the Spanish tactician at the post match press conference.
Gombau shared how his team was confident even at the halftime break when they were trailing. He and his boys knew that they need to do a couple of things right to get back in the game and they did exactly that to secure the win. “We were playing quite well and we conceded from a set-piece. We came into the changing room in the first half and we discussed a few things that we needed to do better. We had the confidence that we could bring back the result (in our favour) and win the game,” Gombau highlighted.
The Spaniard also shared how it was not easy to score goals, he credited Kerala goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill for pulling off some good saves. Gombau was satisfied with the two goals and their team managed to score. “It’s not easy to score goals. We were unlucky in the first half. We had a couple of corners from which we almost scored. Prabhsukhan Gill made one save at the beginning of the second half and we came close to scoring. We had five-six chances and it’s not easy to create these many chances. We scored two and we need to be satisfied,” shared Josep Gombau.
Odisha FC will now take on Bengaluru FC and will look to continue their winning run as they look like a solid team under the tutelage of Josep Gombau this season.