Bhubaneswar, Dec 13:
Odisha FC brightened up the atmosphere at the floodlit Kalinga Stadium when they entered the inter-zonal playoff semifinals ofthe AFC Cup with a solitary goal win over 10-man Bashundhara Kings (Bangladesh) on Monday night.
While the goodly crowdin the stands celebrated the home side’s maiden entry into theknock-out rounds of the continental tournament, the mood in the rivalcamp was one of complete gloom and despair.
Needing only a draw to cross the group hurdle, Bangladesh side lost the plot partly because of their own undoing. A calmer approach to the situation could have broughtthem the desired result, but Bashundhara messed it up completely whenthey lost one of their key players, Asror Gafurov, to a red carddecision minutes before the half time whistle.
Odisha FC knew there was no escape from the fact that only a three-pointer could fetch them progression to the next round. So, they decided to go for attacksfrom the very beginning and it certainly earned them dividends. WhileMourtada Fall was the hero for the home side because of the crucialheader that brought them the only goal of the match in the 61st minute,midfielder Ahmed Jahouh remained the driving force behind the Odishaside.
The Moroccan was in the thick of things from the beginning;passing, creating chances and controlling the midfield with clevermovements. It was Jahouh, who took the game-changing corner in the 61stminute, a neat floater that eluded the defenders before getting in atthe right place for Fall to execute the header.
Bashundhara defenders,though, didn’t do themselves any favour, as none of them made the effortto challenge Fall, who had all the time in the world to put the ballinto the corner of the net.
Jahouh was involved in anotherincident, which literally put paid to the Bashundhara Kings’ hopes.Minutes before the half time whistle, their Uzbek midfielder AsrorGafurov went for a crushing tackle from behind on Jahouh and was giventhe marching orders by the Vietnamese referee.
Gafurov was earlierverbally warned by the referee for excessive physical play, but he didnot heed the advice. As Bashundhara players, joined by their men at thebench, loudly protested the decision, the referee remained firm. It was asuicidal act by Gafurov that buried all the plans Bashundhara had.
