Bhubaneswar, Feb 10: Isak Vanlalruatfela's goal cancelled out a strike by Petros Giakoumakis as 10-man Odisha FC held Punjab FC to a 1-1 draw in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season at the Kalinga Stadium here on Monday night.

A red card in the 44th minute to Rahul KP, pegged Odisha FC on the backfoot as Giakoumakis opened the scoring in the first half. The second half saw Vanlalruatfela’s strike level things up for the Juggernauts in the 52nd minute as they eventually salvaged a point from a tricky fixture. Despite the draw, both teams are well and truly in playoff contention heading into the rest of the matches. Odisha FC now have 26 points and are placed seventh, whereas Punjab FC are ninth with 24 points. To put things into context, the sixth-placed NorthEast United FC have 29 points to their name.

Punjab FC got off the blocks quicker than the hosts as they looked positive in the initial exchanges of the game. Ezequiel Vidal made some telling moves in a free role as he found pockets of space near the Odisha FC final third. He delivered a fine ball for Ivan Novoselec from a corner but it was blocked. Later, his exceptional cross found Petros Giakoumakis in the box and the Greek forward headed it past Amrinder Singh in goal only to get flagged offside.

Odisha FC tried to maintain possession with patience and worked their way out of Punjab FC’s high press. In the 20th minute, Vanlalruatfela found Hugo Boumous through on goal with an intricate dinked pass. However, the Frenchman was marginally offside with his surging forward run.

In the 26th minute, Punjab FC had a great opportunity when Boumous gave away the possession in midfield. Filip Mrzljak picked up the stray ball and made a marauding run through the middle. However, the Croatian decided to square it to Vidal rather than trying his luck and the chance fizzled out.

In the meantime, an unfortunate incident saw Odisha FC go down to 10 men as Rahul KP clipped Mrzljak’s ankle while the Croatian was down on the ground. The referee was close to the incident and immediately handed him the marching orders. Punjab FC made full use of the numeric advantage as Ricky Shabong’s through ball found Giakoumakis in space. With only Amrinder to beat, the Greek forward wasted no time in nestling it into the top corner and handing Punjab FC the lead in stoppage time of the first half (45+2’).

Sergio Lobera introduced Rahim Ali as the hosts prepared to tackle the second half with a numeric disadvantage.

Despite Punjab FC’s persistent attacks, Odisha FC threw bodies forward to get back into the game. Their efforts were rewarded in the 52nd minute when Isak and Diego Mauricio combined before the former tried his luck and on any other day, it would have been a regulation save for Ravi Kumar. However, fate had other ideas as the veteran custodian failed to claim the ball properly and it crossed the goal-line handing Odisha FC the equaliser.

In the 64th minute, Panagiotis Dilmperis freshened things up for Punjab FC with three changes. Luka Majcen, Asmir Suljic, and Asish Pradhan came on for Giakoumakis, Vidal, and Suresh Meetei. Majcen kept the Odisha FC defenders on their toes with his surging runs while Suljic pulled the strings from midfield.

Punjab FC maintained their dominance in the second half but the visitors lacked quality in the final third and therefore they struggled hard to find the second goal. In the 88th minute, Mrzljak’s effort struck the post and Majcen picked up the rebound in the penalty area. His eventual effort took a deflection off Rahim Ali on its way out. It was a timely challenge from the substitute.

In the stoppage time, Boumous had the best chance of the second half to secure the victory for the hosts when Isak played him into space in the box. But the Frenchman’s shot was palmed away by Ravi Kumar as he compensated for his mistake earlier in the game.

Odisha FC will play Hyderabad FC on February 14 whereas Punjab FC are scheduled to face Chennaiyin FC on February 15.

--IANS

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