ISL 2020-21: Late Paartalu goal earns Bengaluru FC draw against Odisha FC

Deepak Malik / Sportzpics for ISL

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In a match that witnessed plenty of chances, lacklustre finishing and an 82nd-minute equalizer by Erik Paartalu, saw Bengaluru FC and Odisha FC play out a thrilling 1-1 draw at the Fatorda on Sunday.

Both goalkeepers - Arshdeep Singh and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu - were in fine form.

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Odisha took an eighth-minute lead through Diego Mauricio and looked to have earned their second win of the season but despite Arshdeep Singh's heroics in goal, a determined BFC finally managed to get an equaliser late in the game.

BFC interim coach Naushad Moosa made no changes to the side that lost against Kerala Blasters while Odisha made one change with Steven Taylor returning to the starting XI after serving his one-match suspension.

Bengaluru had a bright start at Fatorda, but were stunned by an early goal from Mauricio which came against the run of play. Jerry Mawihmingthanga took a quick free-kick to Manuel Onwu on the right just outside the BFC penalty area and the latter played a superb low cross into the middle. Mauricio, who was in the box, scored to put his side ahead.

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Moosa's men came very close to scoring when Udanta Singh flashed a cross across the face of goal, but the pass was too quick for an onrushing Sunil Chhetri.

Another chance went begging for BFC when Amay Morajkar floated a cross in for Rahul Bheke but his header missed the mark.

BFC created chance after chance but were let down by not only their sloppy finishing but also Arshdeep's brilliance in goal. One of his best saves came when Taylor failed to clear Bheke's long throw-in and Erik Paartalu latched on to the loose ball and struck from the edge of the box. Arshdeep dived acrobatically to pull off a one-handed save.

In the second half, Arshdeep continued from where he left off as he came with a fine save. This time he stopped Kristian Opseth's free kick with a diving save. He then came up with an acrobatic save to stop Gaurav Bora's header from going into his own goal.

After constant pressure, Bengaluru were finally rewarded with the equaliser in the 82nd minute when Paartalu nodded in Cleiton's in-swinging corner. Right after the goal, Odisha missed an opportunity to regain their lead when Mauricio set up Daniel Lalhlimpuia in the box, but his shot clipped the upright. At the other end, Chhetri blasted his shot over the crossbar from close range. Gurpreet then made a stunning save late in the game to keep out Jerry's close-range attempt.

Odisha remain rooted at the bottom of the table, with 8 points in 13 matches while Bengaluru rise to 7th (on goal difference) with 14 points in 13. Odisha play Jamshedpur next on the 1st, Bengaluru play Hyderabad on the 28th.