ATK Mohun Bagan took the field after a long break only to be held to a thoroughly entertaining 0-0 draw by resurgent Odisha in ‘Match 53’ of the 2021-22 Indian Super League season.
Both teams made a few changes to their starting XI. The Mariners’ head coach Juan Ferrando reinstated Roy Krishna in the team to replace the suspended Hugo Boumous whilst Subhasish Bose came in for Prabir Das.
On the other hand, Odisha’s interim head coach Kino Garcia included Liridon Krasniqi and Nandhakumkar Sekar in the starting XI with Aridai Cabrera and Daniel Lalhlimpuia dropping to the bench.
The Green and Maroons had a bright start and caught the Odisha defenders off-guard on multiple occasions with Krishna testing the Kalinga Warriors’ custodian Arshdeep Singh early on but the youngster did well parrying the ball wide.
Seven minutes later, Liston Colaco found himself in space and pulled the trigger from distance. Having scored a world-class goal against Kerala Blasters earlier in the season, Colaco almost pulled off yet another thing of beauty, but his shot missed the target by a whisker.
A minute later, Ferrando’s men saw another chance going begging courtesy of Victor Mongil’s commendable commitment. Manvir Singh made a daunting run down the right before squaring the ball to David Williams who was unmarked in the penalty area. Mongil threw his body on the line and came up with a fantastic block before the Australian forward could pull the trigger.
Odisha’s first major chance came in the 22nd minute when Jerry Mawihmingthanga capitalized on Deepak Tangri’s poor back pass but his shot was blocked for a corner. Three minutes later, Colaco tried his luck again from distance but there was no change in the outcome as this effort also flew over the crossbar.
Arshdeep Singh kept Odisha in the game with a string of spectacular saves
Irrespective of the end product, the 23-year-old’s perseverance deserves praise as he came up with yet another scintillating effort from a free-kick in the 39th minute. Though the shot was on target this time, Arshdeep came up with a save which was as spectacular as the shot, maintaining parity in the game.
What Garcia said to his players during the half-time break is not known but his pep-talk certainly produced the desired effect as the Kalinga Warriors looked far more confident in the second half.
However, despite Odisha’s resurgence, the first big chance of the half fell to Ferrando’s team when Ashutosh Mehta’s pinpoint loopy cross from the right flank found Williams lurking in the box. The former Brondby striker did well to get a diving header to meet the ball but Arshdeep justified his place in the team by making yet another sensational save.
Former Mariner Javi Hernandez almost scored against his previous employers when he got a shot off in the 68th minute, but his effort struck the side netting. The Spaniard eventually found the back of the net fifteen minutes later as he scored from a precise pass from Mawihmingthanga but the goal was rightfully chalked off as Hernandez was in an offside position.
After a flurry of Odisha efforts, the biggest chance of the night came to the Mariners in the dying moments of the game when Carl McHugh spotted a run from Prabir Das inside the box and found him with an accurately chipped delivery but the defender blasted the shot way over the target with the goal gaping.
With this draw, the Mariners remain in the seventh position and will now take on arch-rivals East Bengal on Saturday whereas the sixth-placed Odisha will be up against Hyderabad on Thursday.