Bengaluru FC clinched back-to-back wins for the first time this season, beating Odisha FC 3-1 in the 9th Indian Super League (ISL) Football Tournament at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru today. This was the sixth defeat in 14 matches for Odisha FC and they remained at the fifth place in the league table with 22 points.

Rohit Kumar broke the deadlock before Roy Krishna ended his 10-game goalless streak to double the advantage Bengaluru FC. Odisha FC striker Diego Mauricio pulled one back from the spot in the opening stages of the second half.

But the home scored once more through Pablo Perez in the stoppage time to wrap up all three points. This was the first time this season that Bengaluru FC scored more than two goals in a game.

Despite dominating possession in the early stages, the Juggernauts were at the receiving end of two quickfire goals. A Javi Hernandez cross from the right flank was cut back across the face of goal by Alan Costa, straight into the path of Rohit Kumar, who planted the ball into the back of the net in the 25th minute.

Just three minutes later, against the run of play, Sivasakthi Narayanan galloped down the left flank and played a perfect through ball for Roy Krishna. The Fijian took a touch before calmly slotting the ball past Amrinder Singh to end his ten-game goal drought.

The second half got off to a bright start with end-to-end football on display. The hosts had a couple of chances that were dealt with by Amrinder before Mauricio was brought down at the other end by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu after skipping past Parag Shrivas. The striker stepped up to take the penalty and sent Sandhu the wrong way from the spot to pull one back for his team. It was the fifth goal in three games for Mauricio.

But problems piled up for Gombau as half-time substitute Victor Rodriguez picked up an injury and had to be taken off in the 70th minute with Pedro Martin coming on. In the 92nd minute, the game was put to bed after substitutes Udanta Singh and Pablo Perez combined to score on the counterattack.

This result splits open the playoffs race, with Odisha FC once again vulnerable to being overtaken by FC Goa to fifth place, while Bengaluru FC have cut their distance to the final playoff spot to three points, level with Chennaiyin FC who are in seventh place. Odisha FC will not feature in the next Matchweek and will next be in action on January 28 against ATK Mohun Bagan.
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PHOTO: Diego Mauricio of Odisha FC celebrates after scoring a goal against Bengaluru FC in their ISL match in Bengaluru on 14 January 2023.