ISL 2019-20: Aridane Santana brace helps Odisha FC thrash Mumbai City FC 4-2

Odisha FC opened their Indian Super League (ISL) account in style on Thursday evening as they thrashed Mumbai City FC 4-2 at the Mumbai football arena. Xisco Hernandez (6'), Aridane Santana (21', 73'), and Jerry Mawhmingthanga (41') were on target for the visitors, while Mohamed Larbi (51') scored from the spot and Bipin Singh added one in injury time for Mumbai.

With defender Souvik Chakrabarti suspended and Rowllin Borges getting injured in the pre-match warm-up, Mumbai coach Jorge Costa was forced to field winger Mohammed Rafique as the right-back in an all- Indian back-four.

Odisha, in search of their first points in the league, rung in four changes as the likes of Nandhakumar, Dorronsoro and Niang Diagne were given the nod in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

It took only five minutes for the away team to take the lead in an ISL match for the first time after having been rebranded this summer. Xisco ran into the box from the right unhindered and befooled Pratik Chowdhary with a body-faint before placing it into the bottom right corner of Amrinder's goal.

The left side of the Mumbai defence was exposed once again on the 20th minute when Jerry latched on to a pass by Sarangi and after going pretty deep into the area, played it back to the edge of the box. Santana, who was making a run into the box, calmly dispatched it to the far post from 18 yards out, gifting his team a two-goal cushion.

Things went from bad to worse for the hosts in the 40th minute, when Amrinder's fingertips could only slightly divert Nandhakumar's curler from the left. The ball hit the crossbar and fell to Jerry who converted from handshaking distance.

After the forgettable first 45 minutes, Mumbai were handed a lifeline early in the second half, when Rowan Arumughan pointed to the spot after Dorronsoro's challenge on Kevyn took the latter down. Tunisian Mohammed Larbi made his first meaningful contribution of the match to send the Odisha goalkeeper the wrong way and convert the penalty-kick.

While Mumbai continued to make inroads into the opponent territory in the second half, Odisha restored their lead in the 72nd minute, as Jerry's pinpoint cross from the right was thumped home by the towering Santana from inside the six-yard box.

Dorronsoro's howler in injury time gave the home side their second goal, as an innocuous grounded cross from Bipin Singh went into the net beating the Spanish custodian at his near post.

With the drubbing, Mumbai is now fifth in the league table while Gombau's men are only one place below with a point fewer in their kitty. The Islanders will host the mighty FC Goa next Thursday and Odisha will visit Kochi to play their fourth consecutive away game.