Bengaluru: Playing away from home, Odisha FC turned the game on its head to snatch a thrilling 3-2 win over Bengaluru FC on Wednesday night.
In a dramatic ISL contest, Edgar Mendez and the ageless Sunil Chhetri scored early to give Bengaluru a 2-0 advantage within 13 minutes at Kanteerava Stadium.
Then came a match-turning moment in the 26th minute. Central defender Aleksandr Jovanovic brought down Diego Mauricio when the Brazilian looked in a good position to score inside the box.
Jovanovic was sent off, leaving Bengaluru to play with 10 men for more than an hour. Odisha FC pounced on the godsent opportunity and took the game away from the home team.
The resultant penalty kick was slammed home by Mauricio.
Ten minutes later, Odisha were awarded another penalty as Rahul KP’s ball was handled by Bengaluru’s Mohammed Salah. Once again, Mauricio made no mistake from the penalty spot.
Crossing over with scores level 2-2, Jerry Mawihmingthanga put the final nail in Bengaluru’s coffin in the 50th minute as he controlled a Hugo Boumous cross and placed the ball past Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Odisha, in sixth place with 24 points from 17 matches, will be back home at the Kalinga Stadium for their next outing against NorthEast United FC on February 3.
