Chennaiyin FC vs Odisha FC: Marina Machans and Juggernauts share spoils amidst drama

Dampening Chennaiyin FC's hopes of making it through to the ISL 2022-23 knockouts, Odisha FC secured a 2-2 draw at the Marina Arena on Thursday, February 2.

The visitors managed to take the lead in both halves but ultimately the Marina Machans restored parity, despite their momentum being hampered by some poor refereeing decisions.

But completely against the run of play, Odisha pulled ahead in the 24th minute through Diego Mauricio. Chennai were clumsy while playing out from the back and Isak Vanlalruatfela won the ball in the middle of the park. The OFC midfielder put the Brazilian forward through and thumped it home.

However, replays showed Mauricio was almost a yard offside when Isak slipped him through. The hosts were all right to feel hard done by and sulk, but Thomas Brdaric's men were wired differently. The Marina Machans reacted almost immediately.

Aakash Sangwan drilled a looping cross into the box and Anirudh Thapa sneaked past the defenders before heading the ball home. In a quick response, Chennaiyin restored parity once again, and deservedly so.

But moments later, the hosts had seemingly crumbled again when Nandhakumar Sekar cut back from the right and blasted a curling effort that rebounded off the cross and was turned home by Isak Vanlalruatfela.

But to the surprise of everyone in the stadium, the referee blew the whistle for offside and ruled the goal out. Replays once again highlighted the need for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the ISL as Isak was almost three yards onside.

Before the referee could blow the half-time whistle, Petar Sliskovic had a golden opportunity to give CFC the lead when Fallou Diagne set him through with a lobbed ball. But the Croatian marksmen failed to convert the glorious opportunity.

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Entertaining clash between Chennaiyin FC and Odisha FC marred by sub-standard refereeing

The break couldn't have come at a better time for Odisha FC. The Juggernauts realized that Chennai were running away with all the momentum in the dying moments of the first half. But coming out after the break, the visitors showed great resilience to catch Marina Machans by surprise.

In the 47th minute itself, OFC broke the deadlock as Isak Vanlalruatfela got on the scoresheet. Nandhakumar Sekar did brilliantly down the right flank yet again to drill in a low cross and Isak evaded his markers with a smart run before slotting the ball home. But the home side responded yet again.

Nine minutes later, CFC were back on level terms when Vincy Barretto played a cross into the box from the left and Abdenasser El Khayati managed to squeeze it past the keeper. Despite getting his hands on the ball, Amrinder Singh couldn't keep the ball out of the net.

It was an end-to-end encounter filled with a lot of moments of individual brilliance. But all of that footballing quality on the pitch was marred by some shambolic refereeing decisions.

In another horrendous call, the referee decided against awarding a penalty after El Khayati was chopped down by a trailing foot from an OFC defender. The official stuck to his decision and in turn, Kwame Karikari went into the referee's books for protesting the decision.

The match ultimately ended at 2-2 with some valiant defending from Odisha, putting them back into the Top 6. Meanwhile, Chennaiyin are statistically still in the knockout race, but the draw has made the road drastically arduous for them.