Surprise package Odisha stun sloppy Goa in Santosh Trophy

Ravish Narvekar

The defeat resulted in Goa sitting at the bottom of Group A without any points from two outings.

After losing their opening match against defending champions Kerala, Goa was looking to bounce back against Odisha but the host shocked the Western Coastal side by defeating them with a massive 4-1 margin in the 76th Senior National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy 2022-23, played at Kalinga Stadium on Sunday evening.

Bikash Sahoo scored the opening goal for the host in the 11th minute, while Chandra Murmu doubled their lead in the 28th minute. Mahammed Faheez scored from the spot in the added minutes of the first session to bring back Goa in the business but the second-half goals from substitutes Rahul Mukhi (79') and Anand Oram (90+6') put the misery on the Western Coastal side.

Odisha had a couple of changes to their side following a 1-1 draw against Maharashtra in their first match as Chandra and Jamir Oram made it into the cut. On the other hand, Goan coach Norberto Gonsalves kept faith in the same XI which went down to Kerala.

Goa started the match on an attacking note and kept rivals' defenders on their toes. However, it were the host who drew the first blood in the 11th minute. A low cross from Jamir was intercepted by Goan defender Nickson Castanha which rolled to unmarked Kartik Hantal. The forward unselfishly passed it to well-in-position Sahoo who blasted it in the back of the net from inside the box to put his side ahead.

Though Goa conceded in the early minutes of the match, there were no urgency seen from their players to level back as they took more 15 minutes to create their first potent chance. Goan skipper Jovel Martin sent a long cross to find Faheez in the box but the forward failed to connect his header from inside the 6-yard box with just a rival keeper at his mercy.

Odisha replied with another goal to their first attack within two minutes as a long throw-in by their skipper Prabin Tigga was smartly flicked to Murmu by Jamir. The midfielder wasted no time pulling the trigger from inside the box which settled in the goal making it 2-0.

Goans finally showed some urgency in the second quarter of the match and came out all guns buzzing. They came close to reducing the margin in the 37th minute when Ganesh Thakur made a brilliant through pass to Faheez in the box but Odisha custodian Ankit Bhuyan left his line to thwart the Goan forward in a one-on-one situation.

The Western Coastal side increased their game tempo and finally found the golden opportunity to deficit the margin just before the halftime whistle. A high boot tackle from Odisha defender Adwin Tirkey on Goan medio Kirtikesh Gadekar in the box forced the referee Arvind Sekhar to quickly blow his whistle and point towards the penalty spot. Faheez who had a brace to his name in the last match calmly beat the rival keeper Ankit from the spot to make it 2-1.

Faheez should have levelled back in the added minutes of the session when Harsh Patre snatched the ball from an Odisha defender and set up him in the box but the forward delayed pulling the trigger as a rival defender made the timely interception.

Goans had another opportunity in the starting minutes of the second session when they were awarded a free kick in the dangerous area but Nickson saw his set-piece missed the target narrowly.

The former champions once again came close to levelling back in the 59th minute when Trijoy Dias sent a low cross to fresh-legged forward Akeraj Martin who replaced Lloyd Cardozo at halftime, but the forward saw his smart flick divingly saved by Odisha keeper Ankit.

With continuous attacks from Goa, it was looking like the Costal side will surely make it all square but the match had a different fortune as Odisha extended their lead from the counterattack in the 79th minute. A long cross by their skipper Prabin found Murmu at the far post who smartly tapped it to just-in forward Rahul who without any hesitation sent the ball in the back of the nylons making it 3-1.

There was looking no back for Odisha as they added another to their tally in the added minutes of the match as Rahul made a beautiful through pass to another substitute Anand who covered some ground before clinically finishing in the net for their fourth.