Odisha FC and NorthEast United FC in action (Photo: Twitter|ISL)
Bhubaneswar: Odisha FC kept their hopes of finishing fourth in the Indian Super League and securing a spot in the semi-finals with a gritty 2-1 victory over NorthEast United FC at the Kalinga Stadium on Friday.
Martin Chaves gave visitors NorthEast the lead in the 24th minute. Odisha kept forcing the issue but could not get past goalkeeper Subhasish Roy in the first half. In the second half, Manuel Onwu equalised in the 47th minute while Martin Guedes scored the decisive goal in the 72nd minute.
There were several refereeing decisions that went against the winning side but in the end the better team won.
The victory helped 6th placed Odisha move up to 5th and reduce the gap between themselves and 4th placed Mumbai City FC to just two points. Odisha now have 24 points from 17 games and will face Kerala Blasters in the last league match of the two teams on February 22.
NorthEast remained 9th with 13 points from 16 games. They will face Hyderabad FC on February 20 before their last game against Chennaiyin FC on February 25.