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Colombian Wilmar Jordan Gill found the net twice against the Kalinga Warriors, who hit back with a strike from Dorielton and an own-goal by Mohammad Nawaz to pick up a point on the road in the 2-2 stalemate.
Chennaiyin FC were held to a 2-2 draw against Odisha FC. (Image: X)
Chennaiyin FC were held to a 2-2 draw at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Thursday against a visiting Odisha FC as Wilmar Jordan Gil’s double was cancelled out by a Dorielton strike and an own goal by Mohammad Nawaz at the Marina Arena on Thursday.
The sides wrestled to establish their dominance throughout the first period of the game but ended up cancelling each other out blow-for-blow in a tightly contested forty-five minutes of play at the Marina Arena.
The teams came up empty trying to find the chink in each other’s defensive armour as they entered the tunnel with nothing between them at the halftime break.
The second half was off to an exciting start as Chennai thrust forward, with Owen Coyle’s instructions at the break ringing in their ears. They had the opportunity to inch ahead right after the resumption of play, but the attempt went just wide of the mark.
However, CFC capitalized on the momentum and found the opener as Amrinder’s error proved costly with Shields latching onto a weak pass from the back. The Chennai skipper intercepted the ball just outside the d-box and went on to make a fruitful foray into the danger area to set up Jordan for a tap-in to make the scoreboard tick.
The duo combined yet again in the 53rd minute of the game as Chukwu held off his marker to permit Shields to make a run down the left before laying it on a platter for the Colombian Jordan to double his tally on the day.
Odisha looked to hit back and in an attempt to cut the deficit made a move into the home team’s altar but had nothing to show for it at the end of the run as the attempt went wayward.
Rahim Ali looked to cut in from the left against his former side but was brought down with the ball plucked from him inside the area. His calls for a spot kick fell on empty ears as the ref waved play-on.
Lobera made a quadruple substitution, bringing in Saviour Gama, Raynier Fernandes, Thoiba Moiragthem, and Diego Mauricio to replace Jerry Lalrinzuala, Rahim Ali, Khawlhing Lalthathanga, and Carlos Delgado.
Mauricio had the chance to cut the difference to half in the 65th minute, but couldn’t quite get on the end of a dangerous cross in from Fernandes. Minutes later Fernandes opted to try his luck from outside the box, only to watch it go straight to the hands of the thankful Nawaz in goal.
Dorielton reduced the arrears with an 80th-minute strike as Mauricio set his teammate up for the strike to try and bring Odisha back into the game.
Brambilla produced a show for the stands with his rainbow flick near the corner but was halted from doing any further damage by a steadfast Odisha defence, albeit having to retort to physicality. The Brazilian nearly put the hosts three clear with an attempt at a dinked finish nine minutes from time, but he couldn’t get the ball to dip in time.
Eight minutes were added on at the end of regulation play and Odisha threw the kitchen sink at the home defence in a bid to level but were unlucky to do so as Mauricio’s fiery left-footed volley rattled the bar before coming off it.
The Juggernauts, however, got their due seconds from the final whistle as the ball went into the net off CFC custodian Nawaz in the final embers of the game to give the travelling side a share of the spoils.