East Bengal created chances late in the game but failed to find a breakthrough as its ISL contest against Odisha FC ended goalless at the Salt Lake Stadium on Friday.
The first half saw a good contest producing plenty of end-to-end action but both sides were found wanting in the final third. Odisha had a good chance in the ninth minute when Isak Ralte broke into the East Bengal box, making the most of a miscued clearance by the host’s defender Lalchungnunga.
The Odisha midfielder, however, failed to get the ball past East Bengal goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill. The host had a fine opportunity in the 27th minute when Nandhakumar made his way through the right flank beating three Odisha defenders, but Odisha custodian Amrinder Singh stood strong. In the 61st minute, Odisha’s Roy Krishna dribbled from the left and fired a low cross but Jerry Mawihmingthanga failed to connect.
At the end of a barren day, East Bengal was left complaining about the poor supervision of referee, S. Senthil Nathan, who seemed to have overlooked infringements by Odisha defenders Mourtada Fall and Jerry Lalrinzuala inside the box.
The result: East Bengal 0 drew with Odisha 0.
