Josep Gombau’s side were dominant in the first half with their possession and attacking play, but failed to get a breakthrough which ensured the game was goalless at half-time. However, hosts Chennaiyin came out with renewed vigour in the second half and took the lead twice, but both times Odisha managed to find the equalizer.
Xisco Hernandez made it 1-1 in the 54th minute and Aridane Santana made it 2-2 in the 82nd minute to ensure that the visitors left Chennai with at least a point.
Gombau, after the match, was very happy with the way his side fought back from a deficit twice, but felt they could have come away with all 3 points had they made their dominance in the first half count.
Gombau made a half-time substitution replacing midfielder Vinit Rai with Bikramjit Singh, a move he said was guided by Rai being on a yellow. But just five minutes into the period they conceded the opener.
The Spanish coach also had to take out influential midfielder Marcos Tebar later on after shifting him to play in the back-line as centre-back Carlos Delgado suffered an injury. Gombau said Tebar had been dealing with an upset stomach which forced him into the substitution.
The fact that his side battled back despite these setbacks was something he was very pleased about.
Courtesy of a yet another goal, Santana took his tally to 4 goals and is now the joint-top goalscorer this season, alongside Jamshedpur FC’s Sergio Castel. The Spaniard scored his goal in style, striking a first-time shot low and hard past Vishal Kaith to give the latter no chance of saving the attempt.
Gombau had plenty of praise for his strike man and said -
Odisha have now gone three games without a win, arresting some of the momentum from their bright start and when asked on why his team was producing some very good football without the results, Gombau said it was because he focused on playing the right way.
Odisha have their next two games at home starting with Bengaluru FC on December 4 before facing Hyderabad FC on December 11.
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