The second clash of the Indian Super League’s matchday 8 was quite an interesting one, as bottom-club Odisha FC faced NorthEast United, who were 4th in the table. Stuart Baxter’s men were still searching for their first win of the season and had lost each of their last four matches, and NorthEast weren’t too happy going into the match either having seen their unbeaten run come to an end last time out against Jamshedpur FC.

Key Talking Point

A Hard-Fought Point

Still without a win despite some very strong showings, Stuart Baxter knew that it was about time that his side started converting performances into results. Odisha FC weren’t exactly great in the first half, but they did have a couple of chances and took the lead through Diego Maurício. They were holding on in the final stages, defending set-piece after set-piece and typically conceding just before the break, meaning that Stuart Baxter’s planned team-talk went right out of the window once again. Marcelinho didn’t start once again, so Odisha didn’t ooze creativity in any way. Even then, they battled hard in the second half and created a number of decent openings, but were punched back by a devastating counterattack. This is where the Kalinga Warriors showed great fight once again, as they quickly grabbed an equaliser and got the momentum to perhaps even grab a winner.

Ohh I really wanted a win tonight