Bhubaneswar: Odisha FC moved into the top of the Indian Super League points table with a 1-0 win over Bengaluru FC here on Thursday.
Nandhakumar Sekar scored the winner with a wonderful long-ranger in the 33rd minute as Odisha got their third win in four matches.
Josep Gombau had made one change to the side that defeated Kerala Blasters 2-1 with Raynier Fernandes replacing Isaac Chhakchhuak in the midfield.
For Bengaluru, Simon Grayson changed his XI for the first time. Alan Costa and Javier Hernandez were replaced by Leon Augustine and Roy Krishna.
Jerry Mawihmingthanga and Roy Krishna showed real aggression from the start for their respective sides. Krishna nearly scored when Bruno Silva played a sublime through ball but a brave Amrinder Singh denied him.
Diego Mauricio fired over at the other end but it was after half-an-hour that the game truly lit up with a thunderbolt from Sekar. A corner had been cleared but only as far as Sekar who packed a lot of power in his strike from 25 yards out that Bengaluru goalkeeper had no chance of stopping.
Odisha got a grip of the game thereafter and tightly marked dangerman Krishna. Jerry, meanwhile, had a chance to double the advantage, shortly after the hour, but failed to beat the keeper.
(With agency inputs)
