NEW DELHI: NorthEast United FC extended their unbeaten streak to seven games with a convincing 3-1 win over Odisha FC at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Sunday's early kick-off.
The result means the Highlanders climbed up to third with 26 points from 17 games, and since Khalid Jamil came in, the team are yet to lose a game. This was their biggest win since 2014. Odisha FC remain rooted to the bottom of the table with nine points from 17 games.
All four goals arrived in the opening 45 minutes with Luis Machado grabbing a brace and Deshorn Brown also chipping in with a goal. Bradden Inman reduced the deficit and the end of the first half but the Kalinga Warriors could not do any further damage in the second half.
Machado's first strike and the opening goal of the game was the best of the lot. VP Suhair passed to Ashutosh Mehta and an accurate cross was met by the Portuguese first time as he volleyed the ball into the back of the net. Brown doubled his side's lead after passing the ball through the legs of opposition keeper Arshdeep Singh. Within 25 minutes, the lead was tripled as Machado scored once again, this time with his head from a pinpoint ball from Federico Gallego, who got two assists to his name.
Right on the stroke of half-time, Bradden Inman's left-footed shot from a difficult angle found the back of the net after taking a deflection. Machado had a chance early in the second half but his shot was wide. Then, in the 62nd minute, Arshdeep had to pull off a fantastic double save as he denied both Gallego and Machado.
There was some late drama as Gurjinder Kumar was sent off for a second yellow, putting NEUFC at a numerical disadvantage. Immediately after that, Brown missed a golden opportunity to put the result beyond doubt as his shot from a one-on-one position was straight at Arshdeep. Odisha kept applying pressure till the end but the post and some good defending from NorthEast ensured that Odisha's winless run stretched to eight games.