Odisha FC and ATK played out a goalless draw at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune on Sunday. The stalemate ends ATK’s three-match win streak in the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20, but keeps them at the top of the points table with ten points from five matches. Odisha, meanwhile, stay sixth with five points from as many outings.

  • Odisha dominated the first-half and saw a penalty appeal turned down.
  • Nandhakumar Sekar cleared a Jobby Justin header off the line to deny the ATK striker at the hour mark.
  • The match eventually ended goalless.

After an intense 15 odd minutes, the first big chance of the match fell Odisha FC’s way from a Martin Guedes corner. ATK goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharja misread the flight as Nandhakumar found himself ahead of the ATK defence and the custodian to get his head to it. Unfortunately, he placed his header wide of the mark. Seconds later, Daniel Lalhlimpuia showed some magical dribbling abilities to get past a crowd of ATK defenders and created a shooting opportunity for himself. The end product, however, was too weak and went straight to Arindam.

The visitors created their first chance of note in the 26th minute as space opened up for Javier Hernandez after playing a brilliant one-two pass with David Williams. Odisha goalkeeper Arshdeep Singh had to come out bravely to snuff out the danger.

Barring the chance, it was Josep Gombau’s men who looked to be in control and the more likely to score. In the 36th minute Odisha had a big penalty appeal turned down after Michael Soosairaj clattered into an advancing Shubham Sarangi inside the ATK box.

After being on the backfoot for most of the first-half, the away team ended the half strongly and created a few half chances. The half-time whistle, however, sounded with the score goalless.

After a scrappy start to the second-half, it was ATK who eventually took control of the match and kept the Odisha defence busy. Substitute Jobby Justin almost broke the deadlock at the hour-mark with a header moments after coming onto the field. Fortunately for Odisha, Nandhakumar was at the right place at the right time to clear it off the line.

The chance incited a reaction from Odisha as the two sides started to trade chances. Both teams tried their best to break the deadlock but the match eventually ended all square at 0-0.

Hero of the Match – Aridane Santana

The Spanish striker was central to Odisha’s performance on the night with his hold up play up front. He also helped out the defence with his physical presence whenever needed. His all-round showing earned him the Hero of the Match award.

AWARDS

Club Award – Odisha FC and ATK

Maruti Suzuki Limitless Player of the Match – Nandhakumar Sekar

DHL Winning Pass of the Match – David Williams

ISL Emerging Player of the Match – Shubham Sarangi

Hero of the Match – Aridane Santana

Watch the match highlights here:

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Odisha FC 2019-2020Match Report