NEW DELHI: Odisha FC's woes continued in the New Year as they suffered a 1-3 defeat at the hands of SC East Bengal at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Sunday. East Bengal rode on first half goals from Anthony Pilkington and Jacques Maghoma and a late Bright Enobakhare strike to secure their first win of this campaign.
The result meant Odisha remain rooted to the bottom of the table with two points from eight games. The Kolkata giants remained tenth but are now level on points with Kerala Blasters FC in ninth with six points from eight games.
The first goal arrived via a long throw from the newly-recruited Raju Gaikwad. The defender's accurate throw in the 12th minute was met by Pilkington at the back post and the Irishman made no mistake as he gave his side the lead. It was the former Norwich City player's first ISL goal.
Pilkington was denied another goal after hitting the woodwork but then Maghoma helped East Bengal double their advantage in the dying minutes of the first half. Matti Steinmann fed the ball to the Congolese on the left. He danced into the box, jinked past a couple of challenges before blasting the ball to the roof of the net from an acute angle. It was his third strike of the campaign, the highest scorer for the Red and Golds.
Odisha had their share of opportunities in the first as well as second half. SCEB keeper made a few smart saves off Diego Mauricio and Manuel Onwu in the opening 45 minutes while Stuart Baxter's team hit the woodwork on a couple of occasions.
Another of East Bengal's new recruits, Bright finished off the contest in the 89th minute with a calm finish from inside the box. The debutant looked bright during his cameo. However, the clean sheet evaded the Kolkata team as Diego Mauricio scored the 100th goal of the season in added time but it proved to be too little too late.