The magnificent campaign of Odisha FC in the 131st Durand Cup Football Tournament ended in a heart-break as they went down fighting against Bengaluru FC 1-2 in the second quarterfinal at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata today.

Roy Krishna scored the match-winner for Bengaluru FC in the last minute of the extra time, during which all three were scored. After play in the regulation 90-minute ended in goalless draw, the two teams scored one goal each in the 15-minute extra time to stay in the hunt for the semifinal berth.

Substitute Sivasakthi Narayanan gave the Blues a 1-0 lead before Diego Mauricio restored parity for Odisha FC with seven minutes left to play. And just as the game looked headed to penalties, Krishna pulled Bengaluru over the line with a fantastic strike from distance.

A red-card to defender Shubham Sarangi in the 85th minute cost Odisha FC dear as they were forced to play the rest of the time with a player short. A foul on Leon by Sarangi prompted the referee to brandish a second yellow card.

Earlier, Odisha FC became the only team to end the group stages of the tournament, winning all four of their league matches in Group-D at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, Assam. The Bhubaneswar-based Odisha FC beat North East United FC 6-0, Kerala Blasters FC 2-0, Sudeva Delhi FC 3-0 and Army Green Football Team (AGFT) 1-0.

RESULTS OF ODISHA FC:

August 17: Odisha FC (Jerry Mawihmingthanga 15th, 38th; Nandhakumar Sekar 26th, Issac Vanmalsawma 81st, Diego Mauricio 88th, Thoiba Singh 90th) beat NorthEast United FC 6-0.
August 23: Odisha FC (Isak Vanlalruatfela 51st, Saul Pedro Crespo 73rd) beat Kerala Blasters 2-0.
August 29: Odisha FC (Saul Crespo 19th, 38th, Jerry Mawihmingthanga 40th) beat Sudeva Delhi FC 3-0.
Sept 4: Odisha FC (Pedro Martin 83rd) beat Army Green FC 1-0.
Sept 10 (QF): Odisha FC (Diego Mauricio 115th) lost to Bengaluru FC (Sivasakthi Narayanan 97th, Roy Krishna 120+1) 1-2.
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PHOTO: Saul Crespo played prominent role in Odisha FC reaching quarterfinals of the Durand Cup Football Tournament in Guwahati.