AFC Media Team
BHUBANESWAR: Mohun Bagan Super Giant opened their AFC Cup™ 2023/224 campaign in style after defeating 10-man Odisha FC 4-0 in Group D at the Kalinga Stadium on Tuesday.
Dimitri Petratos starred with a brace alongside goalscorers Sahal Samad and Liston Colaço. It was a lively start to the contest with Mohun Bagan having the first look on goal in the seventh minute when Manvir Singh’s deflected shot forced Amrinder Singh into a save.
Odisha, making their AFC Cup debut, thought they had taken the lead in the 13th minute when Carlos Delgado threaded a through ball to find Roy Krishna to convert from close range, only to find the goal disallowed.
Despite having Ahmed Jahouh, Mourtada Fall and Krishna upfront, Odisha struggled to contain Mohun Bagan’s advances with Dimitri Petratos, Armando Sadiku and Hugo Boumous threatening to find the opening goal.
Odisha suffered a setback when they were reduced to 10 men in the 42nd minute after Mourtada Fall picked up his second yellow card but the Super Cup winners held on to keep the score 0-0 going into the break.
Mohun Bagan wasted no time benefitting from the numerical advantage as they opened their account a minute into the restart with Samad finding the net from inside the box courtesy of Manvir Singh’s layoff.
The goal spurred Mohun Bagan and they were rewarded with their second goal thanks to Petratos’ awareness when he pounced on a rebound following Samad’s blocked effort.
Despite their best efforts to find a way back into the tie, Odisha fell further behind when they conceded twice in a span of three minutes.
Manvir Singh was the orchestrator again, providing the well-timed pass for Colaço to head home from close range in the 79th minute before Petratos netted his second with a delightful lob over Amrinder Singh following Moirangthem Thoiba poor back pass.
