ISL10 semis: Mumbai win a thriller v Goa in 1st leg , Odisha beat Mohunbagan 2-1

 

We had two rivetting 1st leg semi finals of ISL season 10.  While Odisha FC pipped  league-shield holders Mohunbagan 2-1 at Kalinga , FC Goa after leading 2-0 till almost the 90th minute , sensationally lost to Mumbai FC 3-2 at tge end at home . Now Goa will have to beat Mumbai in Mumbai in the 2nd leg to get into the final .  Mohunbagan will neet Odisha at Salt Lake stadium for the 2nd leg 

Goa v Mumbai 

Only 6 minutes gap.  That's three goals.  Mumbai City FC showed magic in the injury time at the opponent's home ground.  Changte & Co took another step towards reaching the ISL finals.  FC Goa had to lose the match even after leading by 2 goals at home.  Mumbai had the last laugh by winning 3-2

 FC Goa has not had a good start to the current ISL.  In the beginning, the orange jersey holders had to lose three out of five matches.  After that, FC Goa won four of their last five matches and qualified for the playoffs.  After that, Chennaiyin was knocked out in a knock out match.  However, the overwhelming form of Brandon Fernandez came down to play the ISL semi-finals.  Goa lost to the power of Mumbai in injury time.

 On the other hand, Mumbai City FC lost the league shield after losing to Mohun Bagan in the last match of the league stage.  Even at the beginning of today's match, they could not overcome the shock of that loss.  On the other hand, Rahul Veke on the home field, made a fool of Akash Mishra and scored a goal in the 16th minute.  Then came Brandon's goal in the 56th minute of the second half courtesy a screaming spectacular volley .  Goa kept this lead at home till 90 minutes.  The fans assumed victory was almost certain.

 But Mumbai had a different plan.  Only 6 minutes were allotted as injury time.  Within that time, Changte changed the colour of the match.  Changte pushed the ball into the goal in the last minute of the scheduled time.  Vikram Pratap Singh scored again in the next minute from the return ball.  After equalizing with a pair of goals, Mumbai started playing with the defense of the opponent.  Changte's goal again just before the end of the match whistle.  Mumbai City FC is now close to  advance to the ISL finals as now they will play the 2nd leg at home .

Odisha FC v Mohunbagan SG

Mohun Bagan had to return disappointed from the first leg of the ISL (ISL 2024) semi-finals.  The maroon brigade lost 2-1 to Sergio Lobera's men in a controversial away match.  As a result, Habas Brigade fell under pressure before reaching the semi-finals of the second phase.  In order to reach the final, the green-maroon camp has to win the Yuva Bharati by at least 2 goals.

 This season, Odisha has really turned out to be a strong hurdle for Mohun Bagan.  The green-maroon camp could not beat Odisha in the league phase of ISL.  Again in the AFC Cup, he had to wear the garland of goals against Odisha.  The green and maroon coach Habas knew that the fight would be tough.  He prepared the team in the same way.  But the beginning was great.  Mohun Bagan went ahead within two and a half minutes.  But as time goes on, the green-maroon camp is gradually disappeared from the match.

 Mohun Bagan started the match brilliantly.  After two and a half minutes, Manbir's header from Dimitri's corner kick was excellent.  The ball got caught in Odisha's net.  For a moment, the green-maroon supporters thought that Shubashis &Co might be able to break Odisha's knot this time.  But the blow to that dream came in the 11th minute of the match.  Just as Mohun Bagan scored, Carles Delgado equalized with a goal.  After equalizing, Odisha slowly began to dominate the match.  The result was matched in the 39th minute of the match.  Now Mohun Bagan's former home boy Roy Krishna has become a villain for the green and maroon supporters.  Virtually single-handedly, Krishna overcame Hector and hooked the ball into the green-maroon net.  Green-maroon fell behind.

The second half of the match did not go as well.  Attacks followed counterattacks, but neither side could capitalize on the opportunity.  On the other hand, in the 67th minute of the match, Sadique of Mohun Bagan had to leave the field after receiving a second yellow card.  However, Odisha did not get the benefit of an extra footballer for long.  Odisha's Delgado also got a red card in the 74th minute.  Both teams went down to 10 men.  Both cards are open to debate.  Despite this, the green-maroon camp had a chance to advance in the end.  The green and maroon camp could have returned with a draw if the ball hit Aniruddha Thapa and did not return off Odisha's crossbar.  

 The first leg of the ISL's first semi-final was a perfect example of a back-and-fourth attacks.  Dimitri Petratos on one side, Roy Krishna on the other, Hector Yutse on one side, Carlos Delgado on the other.  Excellent fight on the one hand, awkward mistakes on the other.  Three goals, a pair of red cards, all in all the Kalinga Stadium was heated up with the heat of Bhubaneswar.  Sergio Lobera had the last laugh in that heated match.